DOZENS of ground staff at Geneva Airport went on strike today over a wage dispute with their employer, the Dubai National Air Travel Agency (Dnata), delaying flights during the busy holiday season.

Dnata personnel, who reportedly handle about a fifth of the traffic through Cointrin airport, began their strike at 4am (0300 GMT), the SSP public sector union said on X.

The strike was called to demand “dignified working conditions and working wages”, it said.

Around 80 strikers gathered in front of the airport wearing bright yellow safety vests and brandishing union flags and posters with messages like “Dnata is killing me” and “Precarious work means grounded flights”.

The airport acknowledged the work stoppage was delaying flights during the busy Christmas rush.

“Some of the employees of a service provider are on strike today, causing an impact on our operations,” it said in a statement, apologising to passengers for the inconvenience.

Three flights, two of them intercontinental and long-haul, were delayed early today, airport spokesman Ignace Jeannerat told the ATS-Keystone news agency, adding they might need to land at other airports.

He said Dnata was scheduled to provide assistance for 85 of the 419 flights scheduled today, a day when the Geneva airport was expecting 52,000 passengers to travel through.

‘Pressure’

Dnata reportedly counted around 600 staff at the airport, who handle various ground operations, including ticketing and baggage, for several international airlines such as British Airways, Air France and KLM.

The union has suggested around half the Dnata staff would take part in the open-ended strike.

It said the duration of the stoppage would be evaluated “hour by hour”, the 20minutes online news site said.

Workers demanded that Dnata, an Emirati airport service provider, hike salaries by 5%.

They also wanted the company to provide a premium for some physically challenging jobs and additional pay for night and Sunday work, something Dnata had refused, union representative Jamshid Pouranpir told 20minutes.

Dnata offered to raise salaries by 3% and agreed to drop a controversial plan to cut contributions to staff retirement funds, but that was not enough to satisfy workers.

Dnata representative Alexandre Koenig told 20minutes the company was “determined to find an agreement”, but said it would consider any work stoppage to be “illegal”.

SSP decried “pressures” exerted by the company, alleging it threatened to fire employees who strike, the news site reported. – AFP, December 24, 2023.