Strike information on a departure board at the airport in Düsseldorf, Germany, February 27, 2023.
Berlin – A warning strike by trade unions for higher wages paralyzed traffic today at the airports in West Germany Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn. Over 300 flights were canceled and several dozen more connections were transferred to other airports. The protest in both directions also affected the morning and evening route of Eurowings between Prague and Düsseldorf.
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Cologne/Bonn Airport had planned 136 passenger flights for today, but 131 were canceled due to the strike. “Passengers are urgently asked to check the status of their flight with their airline or travel agency before traveling to the airport,” the airport said. 330 flights. However, due to union action, 205 flights will not take place and another 40 or so have been transferred to other airports or postponed until Tuesday. The Düsseldorf airport authority said it had agreed with the unions to maintain emergency operations to allow medical and humanitarian flights to be handled.
Prague has a direct flight connection with Düsseldorf, but it was canceled for today. The morning service to Prague with landing at 08:20 and subsequent departure to Düsseldorf at 09:00, as well as the evening service with landing in the Czech capital at 19:50 and departure at 21:50, have been canceled for today, as reported by Eurowings on its website .
“With the strike, the employees are putting pressure together on the employers, because the current negotiations on collective agreements in the public service have not produced any acceptable offer,” said Andrea Becker, who is the head of the Verdi trade union branch in North Rhine-Westphalia, about today's protest. “Inflation, high energy and food prices put most employees in a precarious situation. Many no longer know how to pay the rent and fill the fridge. They need significantly more money to live. Employers must understand this and react accordingly. They must evaluate the good work of the employees and relieve them from enormous financial pressure,” she added.
Negotiations on new collective agreements, according to Verdi, concern, among other things, employees of most airlines, airport firefighters or ground service workers. “They demand a salary increase of 10.5 percent, at least by 500 euros (CZK 11,800) per month,” the unions said. Employers offered to raise wages by five percent in two steps and a one-time payment of 2,500 euros (CZK 59,000).
Life in North Rhine-Westphalia was paralyzed today by more warning strikes, drivers among others joined the protest for higher wages public transport, officials or employees of kindergartens. Operations are also limited at several clinics.
