Frankfurt spared stoppages
March 21, 2012
Spokesmen for both sides said details of a new collective contract for the 200 ground workers would be finalized next week. They did not give details on Wednesday.
"We have an agreement. There will be no further strikes," GdF union spokesman Mathias Maas said.
The head of labor relations for the airport's managing company Fraport, Herbert Mai, said the salaries of the controllers, who plan and direct aircraft' parking movements on the apron, would be raised to equate with pay levels of their counterparts at Munich's international airport.
Pay for Frankfurt controllers who guide aircraft taxiing in "follow-me" vehicles on the tarmac were already on a par with Munich and would stay unchanged, he added.
"For our passengers and our employees, we welcome that a definitive agreement that has been reached," said Mai.
Dispute escalated despite arbitration
Frankfurt international airport's bitter dispute was handed to arbitrators last year but Fraport subsequently rejected the mediators' findings. Ground controllers replied with stoppages over two weeks in February, culminating in a key ruling by the Frankfurt Labor Court
It barred federal air traffic controllers from stopping work at Frankfurt's airport in sympathy with their GdF ground services colleagues.
A complete standstill was averted and the GdF and Fraport sought solutions back at the negotiating table. Initially, Fraport had been reluctant to agree to a separate contract for the ground workers.
The GdF had highlighted the controllers' workload resulting from the opening a fourth runway at Frankfurt, compared to only two runways in Munich. Several airlines, including Lufthansa and Air Berlin, had threatened to seek monetary damages, which the union dismissed as judicially inadmissible.
The dispute also renewed calls from major unions and employers' federations for the retention of all-encompassing workplace agreements. Critics accused the specialist trade unions of holding sway at larger, complicated workplaces.
In 2010, Germany's Federal Labor Court underscored the constitutional right of workers and employers to form diverse coalitions, even within single workplaces.
ipj/rc (dpa, Reuters, AFP)