On Wednesday, all passenger flights were cancelled at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) as a result of a staff strike seeking greater compensation.
35,000 passengers were impacted by 300 flights that were either cancelled or rescheduled, according to the airport.
The day-long “warning strike” was called by the powerful Verdi union to ramp up pressure ahead of the next round of negotiations with bosses. Around 1,500 airport employees are expected to participate in the strike, according to the union.
For the ground workers, Verdi is requesting a salary raise of 500 euros ($440) per month over the course of a year. It wants larger overtime bonuses for security guards working on weekends and on holidays.
“Everyone knows about the exorbitantly higher prices, be it for food or at petrol stations,” Verdi representative Holger Roessler told German media.
German inflation, which peaked at 10.4% percent in October, decreased to 8.6% in December, largely as a result of government relief efforts to lower energy prices.
After launching a series of warning strikes, the largest trade union in Germany, IG Metall, was able to reach an agreement for an 8.5 percent pay increase that will affect nearly four million workers in industrial sectors.
