Hundreds of thousands of passengers and the global transportation of freight and goods, including humanitarian aid, was brought to a near grinding halt after labour strikes broke out at seven commercial airports in Germany on Friday.
According to the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (Barig), the strikes started during a collective wage dispute between the German trade union, Verdi, and public sector employers, bringing air traffic at these locations to an almost complete standstill. Barig is the airline association of national and international airlines in Germany.
Barig chairman and executive director, Michael Hoppe, said Friday’s “warning strikes” at the seven commercial airports had a “significant impact” on the movement of cargo and goods, not only in Germany but worldwide.
“At Frankfurt Airport, which is by far one of the most important airfreight locations in Europe and worldwide, hardly any goods can currently be handled. To maintain supply chains, considerable volumes of freight must alternatively be transported by trucks to airports abroad such as Brussels or Liège, where they are finally loaded onto aircraft,” Hoppe said.
“The situation is particularly challenging in terms of sensitive products and goods for which, for example, fast, temperature-controlled transport is essential. The strikes are also having a significant impact on the logistics of humanitarian aid deliveries, as in the immediate case with aid transports to Turkey and Syria,” he added.
“We have logistics chains that are especially complex and highly sensitive. Despite special permissions for transport and alternative airports, there is hardly any chance that disruptions, which are inevitably caused by such strikes, can be completely mitigated.”
He urged workers to urgently consider the measures taken in the current wage dispute and the impact on the economy and society.
“Negotiations must lead to constructive solutions. Strike action such as we are experiencing today has massive and persistent consequences for mostly uninvolved parties.”
