No aircraft took off or landed at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on March 18, as around 2,000 workers heeded the call of the Ver.di union to stage a full-day warning strike—bringing all 445 scheduled flights to a halt and affecting some 57,000 passengers.
From 5:00 am to midnight, essential airport operations, including fire services, traffic control, and terminal management, were suspended, effectively shutting down one of Germany’s busiest transport hubs.
The strike came amid escalating tensions in wage negotiations, with the labor union accusing airport management of a “blockade attitude” and refusing to meet workers’ basic demands. The union firmly rejected the employer’s offer of minimal annual increases of just 1% to 1.5% stretched over several years, denouncing it as an insult in the face of rising living costs. Instead, workers demanded a 6% wage increase that reflected the real value of their labor and the economic pressures they faced.
“This was not a serious offer,” said Holger Rößler, Ver.di’s chief negotiator. “Anyone who offers employees practically just one per cent more pay per year while the cost of living rises shows no appreciation for their work.” He described the proposal as a “provocation,” capturing the growing frustration among workers.
While airport management attempted to dismiss the strike as “disproportionate,” even invoking the ongoing war in Iran to criticize the timing, workers and union leaders made clear that it was precisely in times of crisis that fair wages, dignity, and job security must be defended. The strike aimed to force a significantly improved offer ahead of the next round of negotiations scheduled for March 25.
The action at Berlin Airport was part of a broader wave of labor unrest across Europe, as workers confronted stagnating wages, inflation, and austerity-driven policies.
