Düsseldorf and Cologne hit hard by ongoing German industrial action
February 24, 2025
With trade union Verdi having called on its employees to initiate industrial action at three airports across Germany, travellers are feeling the brunt of two 24-hour strikes – with a third 48-hour walkout (set to commence on Thursday) planned for later this week.
Verdi – short for Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, or ‘United Services Union’ – represents around two million members across various industries. The strike was announced on Friday following unsuccessful negotiations last Tuesday, with dw.com reporting that Verdi is demanding a pay rise of 8% (equating to at least €350 more per month), as well as “higher bonuses for particularly stressful work”. “The often physically demanding work in all weathers is associated with high time pressure and responsibility for people and technology,” commented Verdi regional director Gabriele Schmidt.
Confirming that “ongoing wage negotiations for employees in the public sector” are behind the strikes, Verdi called on airport employees to stop work from the evening of Sunday 23 February to late Monday evening, explained Cologne Bonn Airport. As such, the airport warned of “massive disruptions” and “numerous flight cancellations,” with the most recent update suggesting 75 scheduled services out of 168 are unable to operate. (This is 62 more than anticipated in earlier announcement, made at 6am today, which had suggested that ‘only’ 106 scheduled passenger flights would not take place as planned.)
Similar industrial action is also currently affecting Düsseldorf, with the airport cautioning that a ‘warning strike’ initiated at 3am today would lead to “severe disruptions in flight operations”. Rail replacement bus services have been laid on to re-accommodate passengers on certain short-haul routes.
Both airports have urged passengers to check with their flight provider before travelling, with Lufthansa further highlighting that “cancellations and delays in the Lufthansa Group flight schedule to and from these airports are expected”. Recognising that it is “now a collective bargaining partner in this dispute, but – like many other airlines – is affected,” Eurowings added it “assumes that flight operations will be able to resume as normal as far as possible on the following day”.
