Demand more wages and bonuses: security staff at BER Photo: Sven Darmer
By Julian Loevenich
Terminus BER! Instead of going on vacation, many travelers stranded at the capital’s airport on Monday. Strike by the BER staff!
Two of the unlucky passengers: Ahmad (30) and Mason (19), both of whom work for Zara Home in Berlin. She was supposed to go to Malaga (Spain) for work – but nothing came of it: her flight was canceled without replacement.
Mason: “We absolutely have to go to Spain today because of the job. We are considering taking a car and going to another airport in Germany.”
About 27,000 passengers felt the same way as the two men on Monday: around 200 departures were canceled, and around a third of the around 200 planned landings were canceled.
Background to the strike: Collective bargaining for federal and local public sector employees. For the aviation security staff at BER, there is also a surcharge for night, weekend and holiday shifts.
As with Michael Kegel (61) and Ursula Rauschenberger (59). Both have been working for the airport’s security service provider for many years. Her criticism: “The surcharges have remained unchanged since 2006.”