Airport strikes
May 27, 2010
Talks have broken down between ground crew and authorities at Berlin's two main airports, Tegel and Schoenefeld, leading to a strike on Thursday morning that has virtually paralyzed air travel to the city.
At Schoenefeld Airport, 22 flights were reportedly cancelled as 50 workers refused to work. Initial information from Tegel Airport is that flights are yet to land there.
The strikes were called after the fifth round of talks over a wage dispute broke down between unions representing Airport workers and their employers, GlobeGround Berlin, Ground Service International and Acciona.
Trade union Ver.di, which represents those employees, said the workers constituted 90 percent of ground crews at the two Berlin airports.
GlobeGround has reportedly organized replacement staff to deal with passengers and luggage.
The airline Easy Jet criticized the strikes, with the company's Germany manager, Thomas Haagensen, saying that "airline passengers, thousands of visitors to Berlin and business travelers will have no sympathy," for the action.
dfm/dpa/AFP
Editor: Rob Turner