Rail and aviation

German transport minister wants “Easter peace”

This week, both Deutsche Bahn train drivers and Lufthansa security staff went on strike. German Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has now called on the trade unions to refrain from industrial action in the travel sector at least until Easter.

"I appeal to the trade unions to declare an Easter truce if the wage disputes in rail and air transport are not resolved by the start of the vacations," said the minister on Thursday. "(...) We must also meet the needs of the population." After all, families are not parties to the wage disputes and should not have to worry about not being able to see each other over the holidays. The exact timing of the Easter vacations varies from state to state in Germany, with the first ones starting next weekend.

90,000 passengers affected by Lufthansa strike
Over the past few days, large parts of rail and air travel in Germany have come to a standstill. The strike at Deutsche Bahn was on Tuesday, and today, Thursday, around 90,000 people were affected by the strikes by Lufthansa security staff (see video above). These included the Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and Cologne/Bonn locations.

All departures were canceled because passengers and goods could no longer pass through security checks. There were also numerous cancellations of landings. According to estimates by the airport association ADV, more than 580 flights are likely to have been canceled. The trade union Verdi has also called warning strikes for Friday in Hanover, Dortmund, Weeze, Dresden, Leipzig and still in Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.

Ground staff have already gone on strike
Lufthansa has around 25,000 employees in the security service. Five rounds of negotiations have so far failed to produce a result. Verdi is demanding an increase in hourly pay of 2.80 euros over a twelve-month period and faster overtime bonuses from the first hour of overtime. Only the week before, ground staff went on strike for higher pay.