Hundreds of flights scheduled at four airports in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg will come to a standstill on Friday as staff walk out demanding higher wages.

Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Baden-Württemberg airports face strikes

Almost all arrivals and departures from airports in Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and North Rhine-Westphalia have been cancelled on Friday as airport staff go on strike. The industrial action is set to last until early on Saturday morning.

In Düsseldorf alone, 500 workers are expected to walk out with the support of Germany’s largest trade union ver.di. At Cologne-Bonn airport, 144 of the 148 scheduled flights have been cancelled.

Two airports in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg are also affected by Friday’s strikes. Passengers hoping to fly to or from Stuttgart or Karlsruhe-Baden-Baden should consult the airport websites or contact the responsible airline as all Friday departures and arrivals have now been cancelled. 

What are striking airport staff demanding?

Employees at the four airports are demanding better pay for irregular working hours during night and weekend shifts and on public holidays, and an overall 10,5 percent pay increase. 

The airport staff join Kita, public transport, rubbish collection and postal workers, all of whom have carried out multiple strikes days in recent weeks across Germany. The 10,5 percent increase is what workers in most sectors in Germany have been demanding in recent strikes.

As many sectors continue negotiations into the third or fourth round, planning future strike dates, postal workers at Germany’s Deutsche Post have just won their wage increase. Initially demanding a 10,5 percent increase which Deutsche Post AG refused to deliver, postal workers finally announced an indefinite strike last Friday after weeks of negotiations. On Monday the company said it would grant employees an average pay increase of 11,5 percent.

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