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Langen, 24 May 2004 No strike by air traffic controllers in Germany DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, the German air navigation services organisation, does not expect its air traffic controllers to go on strike for the time being. The company points out that the new air traffic controllers' association GdF, which DFS refuses to recognise as a trade union, has agreed in court not to take any industrial action before the labour court of the Land of Hessen has finally ruled on an urgent procedure which DFS has launched against GdF. According to DFS, it is unclear when the ruling will be made. The company therefore regards the strike ballot of the air traffic controllers as "part of a threatening scenario". In the opinion of DFS, the "social rhetoric" used in the statements made by the new association cannot hide the fact that GdF simply does not fulfil all the legal requirements to be a negotiating partner. The association lacks, inter alia, the capacity to conclude collective agreements, because it has no experts adequately versed in social politics. German courts have established this requirement as one of the minimum criteria which an association of employees must meet in order to conclude collective agreements. Another important aspect is the legal requirement for a trade union to act above company level. In the case of GdF, this is not feasible since DFS is practically the only employer nation-wide. Moreover, the company has serious doubts as to whether DFS air traffic controllers are allowed to strike at all. DFS is legally obliged to compensate financial under-recoveries in the following year by increasing air traffic control charges. This means that the damage resulting from such a strike would not affect DFS, rather the airlines and airports. Twenty-five years ago, two senates of the German Federal Court of Justice ruled independently of each other that "industrial action against third parties" was illegal. DFS wishes to emphasise that it does not intend to call the current level of the air traffic controllers' salaries into question. When DFS superseded the former Federal Administration of Air Navigation Services eleven years ago, the major goals and declared intention of this privatisation were to ensure adequate remuneration for the high level of responsibility associated with the job of air traffic controllers and to find working time regulations that would take account of the workload of the different working positions. Both goals have long been achieved. The salaries of air traffic controllers have doubled since then, with the annual income of these big earners now clearly exceeding € 100,000. This will not change in future but the development shows why the industry has problems with so-called specialist unions. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a State-owned company under private law and has 5,200 employees. DFS ensures the safe and punctual handling of flights. Staff coordinate around 10,000 aircraft movements in German airspace every day, and more than three million movements every year. With this large number of flights, Germany has the highest traffic volume in Europe. DFS operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich. In addition, DFS is represented in the Eurocontrol Centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and in the control towers of the 16 international German airports. DFS provides training and consultancy services around the world and develops and sells air traffic control, surveillance and navigation systems. The company's portfolio also comprises flight-relevant data, aeronautical publications and aeronautical information services. DFS has the following business units: Control Centre, Tower, Aeronautical Solutions and Aeronautical Information Management.
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