Surprise strike at Germany’s Hamburg Airport affects more than 40,000 passengers
BERLIN — Flight cancellations at Hamburg Airport after a surprise strike by workers affected more than 40,000 passengers on Sunday, a day before a planned wider protest across Germany amid new contract negotiations.
Only 10 of more than 280 scheduled flights went as planned early Sunday, the airport said. Many service desks sat empty as would-be passengers lined up to seek information about the cancellations. One big electronic departure board overhead had “canceled” in red next to the list of all flights.
The surprise walkout, which reportedly took place with only about a half-hour advance notice, came before a broader series of preannounced strikes across 13 airports in Germany on Monday, organized by the ver.di union.
The union, whose members work in areas including passenger services and cargo and goods screening, called for Sunday’s strike by security control staff to put pressure on company representatives amid collective bargaining talks.
“The behavior of the trade union ver.di is dishonorable: The strike without notice hits Hamburg Airport at the start of the vacation season,” airport spokeswoman Katja Bromm said in a statement. She said that on Monday, arrivals would be possible, and that “considerable disruptions and cancellations” were expected.
Bromm said that Sunday’s walkouts were “excessive and unfair to tens of thousands of travelers who have nothing to do with the disputes.”
For months, ver.di has been negotiating a new agreement that aims to improve occupational health and safety, provide more vacation days, an increase in the annual bonus to 50% and the freedom to choose a doctor for employees’ regular, mandatory medical exams, among other things.
Lars Stubbe, a trade union official, said that “a strike must cause economic damage.”
“We know that it is a massive burden for passengers. Our colleagues know that too. But they have said we have to go on strike. It must be effective, so that we have a reasonable offer to negotiate,” he said.
Some would-be passengers didn’t hide their frustration.
“I also wonder why it’s like this, because it was supposed to be a big strike tomorrow (Monday) — and why is it today?” said Alva Wetzel, who had hoped to travel. “It’s just stupid.”
Under Trump, the Federal Trade Commission is abandoning its ban on noncompetes
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has called his agency's rule banning noncompetes unconstitutional. Still, he says protecting workers against noncompetes remains a priority.
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5B to settle lawsuit over pirated chatbot training material
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay authors $3,000 per book in a landmark settlement over pirated chatbot training material.
You can trust the jobs report, Labor Department workers urge public
A strongly-worded statement from Bureau of Labor Statistics workers comes a month after President Trump attacked the integrity of the jobs numbers they release monthly.
Headed to the FBI, Missouri’s Andrew Bailey opposed abortion, backed Trump
Andrew Bailey rose quickly to be state attorney general of Missouri where he built a record for fighting abortion and defending Donald Trump. Now he's a co-deputy director of the FBI.
How Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans are reacting to Trump’s National Guard threats
Even after a federal court ruled his use of the National Guard in LA was illegal, the president has weighed sending troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans. Here's where things stand in those cities.
Watching a neighbor’s cat turns lethal in ‘Caught Stealing’
Darren Aronofsky's film is a funny, bloody valentine to 1990s New York City. Though awfully engrossing, Caught Stealing's mix of rambunctious slapstick and bone-crunching violence doesn't always gel.
