Stand-off

Passengers on thousands of flights to and from Germany are being threatened with more delays and cancellations next week, after the air traffic controllers' union GdF warned that more strikes were being considered.

GdF board member Markus Siebers confirmed Thursday that there would be no more action this week, following a court ruling banning a strike planned for six hours on Thursday morning. Siebers promised that a minimum of 24 hours' notice would be given ahead of any further action.

But he also said the union would not return to the negotiating table until the company in charge of Germany's air traffic control, DFS, made a new offer.

"It looks like we'll be back in the same position at the start of next week," Siebers told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.

DFS Personnel Manager Jens Bergmann said an offer was currently not being planned, leaving the threat of further action hanging over flights next week. In response to the threat of a new injunction should there be more calls to strike, Bergmann responded, "We cannot react differently to last time."

Bergmann accused the union of behaving irresponsibly and added that DFS was also waiting for a new offer.

Demands changed

The Frankfurt-based court banned the strike on the grounds that some of the GdF's demands were inadmissible. Siebers, however, said two of the three demands that the court had criticized had already been dropped. The court then did not make a new ruling, since the union had called off the strike in the meantime.

German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer criticized the union for not returning to the negotiating table, adding that the DFS' current offer of a two-stage pay raise of 5.2 percent was a good basis for an agreement. The GdF is calling for an increase of 6.5 percent.

"A weekly workload of 25 hours, 50 days holiday a year, and a pre-tax annual salary of 120,000 euros ($171,000). Those are presentable working conditions," Ramsauer said on state broadcaster ARD. The union said the minister's description was not realistic.

Employers warn of damage to economy

Dieter Hundt, president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), warned Friday that any strike action could have much wider consequences.

"A standstill in air traffic would seriously damage the national economy," he told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Friday. "The air-freight industry faces significant economic challenges already."

Hundt said the union's demand for a pay raise of over 6 percent "lacks any sense of proportion."

It is expected that a new legal battle will continue next week, should another strike be called.

Author: Ben Knight (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Editor: Sean Sinico