Thousands stranded at German airports as public workers strike

Tens of thousands of travellers were affected by delays and hundreds of flight cancellations on Monday due to widespread strikes by public workers across Germany.
In the airports of Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen and Berlin, numerous employees stopped work, in some cases as early as late Sunday evening, according to a spokesman for the trade union Verdi.
As a result, air traffic came to an almost complete standstill at the affected locations. The industrial action is likely to have had an impact on other locations as well. The airports advised travellers to contact their airlines for information.
At BER, the airport serving the German capital, around 200 departures were cancelled according to airport information, affecting about 27,000 passengers. About a third of the 200 planned landings were cancelled. The terminals remained largely empty. Occasionally, travellers stood helplessly in front of the display boards or prepared for a longer wait on the many empty benches.
There were also dozens of cancellations in Hanover and Bremen. In Hamburg, where more than 120 flights were cancelled, the national basketball league team Veolia Towers had to find another way to get to Israel for a match against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Lufthansa announced that it would at least operate its outbound flights to Berlin and Hamburg as planned. Business travellers who wanted to leave Berlin or Hamburg, however, had to find an alternative.
Monday's strikes are the latest in a series of work actions as public workers for federal and local agencies and their employers face off in collective bargaining. In addition, there are local negotiations for workers in ground handling services and nationwide umbrella collective bargaining for aviation security workers.
The union is demanding 10.5% more pay, or at least €500 ($535) more a month, for the 2.5 million or so federal and local public sector workers across the country. The employers are offering 5% in two steps and one-off payments of €2,500. The next round of negotiations is to take place at the end of March.
In addition for aviation security workers, for example at BER, the issue is, among other things, a supplement for night, weekend and holiday shifts. Negotiations with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) have been going on for years.
The association criticized the strikes as an over-the-top reaction.
"The strike is not at all comprehensible for us and thus also harms the progress of the negotiations," said the head of the BDLS bargaining commission, Rainer Friebertshäuser.
The airport association ADV had already criticized the industrial action on the weekend. "The announcement again came at short notice. The passengers affected hardly have a chance to look for travel alternatives."
The strikes could be a prelude to further work stoppages in other transport sectors. The railway union EVG is negotiating new collective agreements with Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway, and 50 other companies.
By March 23, it will have met at least once with each of these companies. An EVG spokesperson said at the weekend that they would then take stock and decide on further measures.
The Sunday edition of the newspaper Bild had reported that the EVG and Verdi were planning a joint strike for March 27, which would paralyse transport sector