Geneva Airport Strike Ends After Reaching an Agreement

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Geneva Airport Strike Ends After Reaching an Agreement

24
Dec.
2023

Geneva Airport Strike Ends After Reaching an Agreement

modified on 07 Oct. 2024 à 16:47 A A A

This Is Beirut

A number of flights from Geneva airport were delayed and some cancelled during the holiday rush Sunday, as dozens of ground staff went on strike over a wage dispute before an agreement was reached. The workers began their strike at 4:00 AM (3:00 GMT) to protest against the conditions provided by their employer, the Dubai National Air Travel Agency (dnata). The Union announced "victory" after striking employees of the Emirati service provider dnata and its management reached an agreement. "They were able to make management back down on the reduction in their pension funds, secure a salary increase, allowances and hourly compensation," the union added, with no further details.

Dnata personnel, who handle about a fifth of the traffic through Cointrin airport, were striking to demand "dignified working conditions and decent wages," the SSP public sector union said on X, formerly Twitter. Around 80 strikers gathered in front of the airport before dawn, wearing bright yellow safety vests and brandishing union flags and posters with messages like "dnata is killing me" and "Precarious work means grounded flights."

Few Flights Delayed

Dnata reportedly counts around 600 staff at the airport who handle various ground operations, including ticketing services and baggage handling, for a number of international airlines such as British Airways, Air France and KLM.

Airport spokesman Ignace Jeannerat said dnata had been tasked with assisting 85 of the 417 flights scheduled for Sunday, a day when the Geneva airport was expecting 52,000 passengers to travel through it. All flights being handled by dnata's competitor Swissport "are functioning normally ... Zero problems," he said. As for the dnata-backed flights, he explained that "flights have either been delayed by two to three hours, or cancelled."

'Pressures'

The union stated that around half the dnata staff have agreed to take part in the open-ended strike.

Workers were demanding that dnata increase salaries by five percent. They also wanted the company to provide a premium for some physically challenging jobs and additional pay for night and Sunday work.

Dnata had first offered to raise salaries by three percent and agreed to drop a controversial plan to cut contributions to staff retirement funds, but that appeared not to be enough to satisfy the workers.

SSP meanwhile decried "pressures" exerted by the company, alleging that it threatened to dismiss employees who strike, the news site 20min reported.

With AFP