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Frankfurt airport workers strike for second day

20 February 2012 10:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. A stoppage by ground crew at Frankfurt airport which has grounded hundreds of flights will continue for a third day on Monday and their union said it was prepared to continue the dispute for weeks.

Some 200 crew at Europe’s third-largest airport plan to strike for 24 hours from 0400 GMT, the GdF trade union said on Sunday after Airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) rejected a proposed settlement from an arbitrator.

The workers, who guide planes in and out of their parking positions, want higher pay, arguing their jobs have become more complex following the introduction of a fourth runway last October.

Fraport says that the pay rise as well as the settlement plan from arbitrator Ole von Beust, an ex-mayor of Hamburg, would alienate other workers at the airport who earn less but do similar work.

The company said it aimed to operate 70 percent of scheduled flights on Monday by using non-union labor or staff who has done the job in the past.

Out of a total of about 1,300 flights a day, 172 were cancelled on Thursday and 290 on Friday, most of them operated by German flagship carrier Lufthansa (LHAG.DE).

The airline will focus on getting its long-haul flights out on Monday, said a Lufthansa spokesman.