Flights cancelled as workers Strike for pay rise at Frankfurt Airport 

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 28 — Over 445 flights were cancelled at airports across Germany on Tuesday after staffs joined other public-sector employees in a series of strikes demanding a 6.5 percent pay rise. The strike, initiated by Verdi union demanded the pay rise for two million public employees.

Like Frankfurt Airport, airports in other cities of Germany were also affected by the strike, according to China’s Xinhua news agency citing local daily on Tuesday. The strikes were scheduled from 5 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (local time) in Frankfurt, and until noon at most other airports.

Negotiations will resume on Wednesday and Thursday The employers are proposing a 2.1 percent pay rise from May 1 this year and another 1.2 percent hike from March 1, 2013 and they want a contract duration of 24 months, Xinhua quoted a German press Market News International.

The union has said the increase can hardly keep pace with the inflation and rejected the proposal. The Verdi union has also warned of a full-blown strike if no agreement on a pay rise is reached during the upcoming negotiations.

It has been only five days since Fraport reached an agreement with another Union called GdF on the pay rise deal with some 200 workers. Earlier this year, the workers working in and around the Apron Control towers staged several rounds of strikes at the Frankfurt Airport, leaving around 1800 flights cancelled, according to local reports.