German airports hit by new wave of strikes, grounding hundreds of flights

BERLIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 580 flights were canceled, affecting around 90,000 passengers, as security staff at five major airports of Germany walk out on Thursday, according to the country's airports association ADV.

Germany's second-largest trade union Verdi called the strike, which hit Hamburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne and Berlin airports.

Further warning strike by security staff at Hanover, Dortmund, Weeze, Dresden, Leipzig and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports were announced for Friday.

ADV Managing Director Ralph Beisel said in a statement that "the trade unions have lost all sense of proportion."

"Germany as a business and tourism location has been disgraced and is suffering great damage," the director added.

Verdi, which represents around 25,000 security staff nationwide, wants to "increase the pressure on employers in the sector before the next round of negotiations to finally present a significantly improved offer that can be agreed," the trade union said.

Verdi is demanding 2.80 euros (3.05 U.S. dollars) more pay per hour as well as overtime bonuses for all additional hours, but five rounds of collective bargaining talks with the federal association of aviation security companies (BDLS) have failed to yield results.

According to the BDLS, employers have offered a gradual increase of 2.70 euros per hour, which would increase monthly wages by 432-470 euros.

In addition, cabin crew of the German airline Lufthansa went on strike on Tuesday and Wednesday at Frankfurt, the country's largest airport, and Munich.

"Strikes in the public aviation sector have long since reached a new dimension," the German Aviation Association (BDL) said on Wednesday. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar)