Latest German strike to paralyse Berlin airport on Monday

Workers at Berlin's international airport are set to strike on Monday in the latest industrial action to affect the transport sector.

Powerful trade union Verdi on Saturday called for the strike at Berlin-Brandenburg airport (BER), starting at 3:30 am (0130 GMT) on Monday and ending at midnight.

Verdi called on employees in aviation security, passenger control and personnel and goods control to walk off work.

The airport then announced that no passenger aircraft would be able to take off from BER on Monday. Arrivals are possible, but it is up to the airlines to decide, an airport spokesperson told dpa.

On Thursday and Friday, Verdi workers went on strike at the airports in Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn, and on Friday also at the airports in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.

The strikes led to numerous flight cancellations. At Baden-Airport, strikes continued on Saturday.

"We once again urge the [association of flight safety employers] BDLS to present a negotiable offer on April 27 and 28 and not to continue playing for time, otherwise there is a threat of further strikes in air transport in May and at Pentecost," said Wolfgang Pieper of the Verdi trade union, according to the statement.

In recent months, Germans unions have paralysed public transport, day-care centres, hospitals and refuse collection with strikes across the country in a pay dispute.

On Saturday, unions and employers in the public sector are meeting for a fourth round of negotiations.

Shortly before the meeting in Potsdam, just outside of the capital Berlin, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she believes that a timely agreement is possible.

"The employees perform a good service in the general interest of all of us, and times are very difficult, so we must also pay them appropriately," she said. "I believe we will succeed in this today as well. In any case, I am very confident."

However, the interests of the municipalities, which are negotiating with the trade unions on behalf of the federal government about the collective agreements for the approximately 2.5 million public service employees, must also be taken into account, she said.

"The municipalities are not doing so well at the moment either, and we are talking about public tax money here," the minister said.

The head of the civil servants' association dbb, Ulrich Silberbach, was non-committal when it came to a potential deal.

"The recommendation by the mediators is a basis for further negotiations. But it is far from being the solution. In any case, we still need to talk," Silberbach told dpa.

"The individual points and proposals will have to be discussed."

He said it was positive that the recommendation had been accepted by a clear majority on the employers' side.

"One can definitely see a sign of hope in that. So we expect constructive and agreement-oriented talks in Potsdam today," said Silberbach. "Otherwise the negotiations will end here and we will be faced with a ballot and industrial action."

The arbitration recommendation, published a week ago, initially provides for tax-special payments of €3,000 ($3,330) in several stages. From March 2024, there would then be a basic amount of €200, followed by a wage increase of 5.5%, with a minimum raise of €340.

If no breakthrough is achieved in Potsdam, a ballot with the unions could follow. If both sides manage to agree, however, new strikes would be off the table.