Airport and Security Unions Finally Reach Pay Agreement Ending Flight Chaos in Germany
According to Skift, the two German unions and an aviation security association representing 25,000 workers in the industry have discussed and come to terms with governmental representatives regarding additional pay for night shifts, allowances for executives as well as Sundays and public holidays, AtoZSerwisPlus.de reports.
“The agreement poses major challenges for the employers’ side and will not be easy to implement in economic terms,” the association said in a statement.
Germany, which has the largest economy compared to other European countries, is dealing with high inflation, leading to more strikes as workers demand higher pay to keep up with the rising cost of living.
According to data by the EU Office for Statistics, Eurostat, annual inflation has reached seven per cent in the EU area as of April, down to 8.1 per cent for the EU alone. The inflation rates stood at 7.6 per cent for Germany, while the lowest annual rates were registered in Luxembourg (2.7 per cent), Belgium (3.3 per cent) and Spain (3.8 per cent).
On the other hand, countries with the highest inflation rates recorded for April were Hungary (24.5 per cent), Latvia (15 per cent) and Czechia (14.3 per cent). In general, the annual inflation fell in 22 Member States and increased in five others.
According to DW, around 700 flights were cancelled due to strikes, affecting all Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonn and Hamburg airports. This indicates that nearly 100,000 passengers were affected by the industrial action.
In general, the number of passengers affected by waves of strikes in the first three months of 2023 reached 900,000 passengers, who were forced to reschedule due to Verdi strikes. Some of the measures that were applied during these strikes included long-distance and regional traffic going to a standstill, creating havoc on the air traffic as well as national.
Like Germans, Frenchmen have been protesting for their rights, as the presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, proposed to reduce the pension age from 64 to 62, prompting thousands of workers to take their anger to the streets and impacting air traffic in general.
EasyJet’s CEO Johan Lundgren, previously said that the consequences that the air traffic controllers strike in France have caused are unacceptable. He also called on the authorities to be quick in addressing issues regarding the matter before tourists switch to other destinations.
