The trade union Verdi started an almost 24-hour industrial action at Berlin Airport early on Wednesday morning, bringing operations to a complete standstill.

The airport operator FBB has canceled all originally planned 300 take-offs and landings at BER. Around 35,000 passengers are affected. Verdi is expecting a very large turnout for the industrial action at the ground handling services, the airport company and aviation security. The union is justifying the strike with the fact that there has not been enough progress in the wage negotiations for around 6,000 employees in the three areas. "We hope that there is enough pressure to get the negotiations moving quickly," Verdi expert Enrico Rümker told Reuters TV. On Monday, he emphasized: "Whether there will be further strikes depends on what happens at the negotiating table and whether the employers change their minds." The aim of the industrial action is to achieve better working conditions.

Berlin/Brandenburg Airport seemed deserted on Wednesday morning. Most passengers had not even shown up at the airport, but had rebooked or taken the train. Empty parking lots, empty check-in desks and empty cafés. The information boards everywhere said the same thing about landings and take-offs: "canceled".

The Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) described the industrial action as completely exaggerated and without any basis. "You have to bear in mind that this strike is not about a pay rise," said BDLS Managing Director Cornelia Okpara. The approximately 25,000 employees across Germany had already received this from January 1, 2023 or would receive it on April 1, 2023. However, the point of contention is now the time bonuses. Verdi's claim that the employer side has not moved is false.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has criticized the industrial action at Berlin Airport as disproportionate. "To call a one-day strike a warning strike is unusual," Spohr told Reuters on Tuesday. The capital is cut off from the outside world in terms of air traffic.

(Report by Klaus Lauer and Reuters TV, edited by Christian Rüttger; if you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).