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The Facts
- All flights were canceled at Germany's Berlin-Brandenburg airport on Wednesday after employees in ground services, aviation security, and the airport company went on strike to press for higher wages.
- The Ver.di union called for the one-day work stoppage over what it said was insufficient progress during three parallel talks. Beginning at around 3:30 am, the strike halted 300 take-offs and landings, affecting nearly 35k passengers.
- According to union representative Enrico Ruemker, the airport company had made a collective bargaining offer for the coming two years, under which salaries would increase by 3% on June 1 and by another 2% by May 1 of next year.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Germany’s biggest trade union, ver.di, called the strike to add pressure as they continue the negotiations to secure a reasonable €500 per month average pay increase to ensure security and aircraft maintenance at the Airport. The demands are not exorbitant, as employees' salaries don't factor in the higher cost of living due to inflation.
Establishment-critical narrative
Berlin Brandenburg isn't as important an air hub to Germany as Frankfurt or Munich Airports, but the strike action has prompted Berlin Brandenburg to cancel all of Wednesday's commercial flights, impacting hundreds of services and tens of thousands of passengers. Airport strikes are not uncommon in Europe, but this particular industrial action has been unnecessarily disruptive due to its short notice.
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