On Friday, February 17, 2023, the Verdi union is calling for 24-hour warning strikes at seven German commercial airports. The airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen are affected. Flight cancellations and delays are to be expected.

Three professional groups have been called to stop work: employees in the public sector at the federal and municipal level, employees in ground handling services and aviation security officials. The Verdi union is currently in collective bargaining for the three groups mentioned, which are considered deadlocked.

The strike is scheduled to begin in the early hours of Friday morning and end Friday night, workers' representatives said. "Due to the strike, delays, cancellations and even the partial standstill of air traffic are to be expected, especially in domestic air traffic," said Christine Behle, Deputy Chairwoman of Verdi.

“Just a few days ago, there was a collective bargaining agreement with Verdi at Hamburg Airport: In the future, employees in ground handling services will receive an average wage increase of around 20 percent – ​​a big leap that will more than compensate for inflation. The same trade union ver.di is now striking Hamburg Airport and causing massive restrictions for tens of thousands of travelers. Flughafen Hamburg GmbH is not a direct negotiating partner in the TVÖD collective bargaining negotiations, which are being conducted in Berlin between the federal government and the municipalities with the trade union ver.di. This strike is being carried out again and again and quite deliberately at the expense of the Hamburg passengers - we can well understand that the understanding of all bystanders is falling. In our opinion, a 24-hour warning strike in Hamburg is completely inappropriate, especially since Hamburg Airport, with its around 800 employees, represents a minimal proportion of the 2,4 million employees nationwide according to the TVÖD contract," criticized Janet Niemeyer, spokeswoman at Hamburg Airport .