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Langen, 15 November 2006 Collective bargaining at DFS fails Air traffic controllers and technical personnel demand salary increases of up to 50 per cent The collective bargaining talks between DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH and the air navigation services union "Gewerkschaft der Flugsicherung" (GdF) have broken down. DFS rejected the union's demands as "non-negotiable", and the GdF declared on 15 November that the talks had foundered. In total, the union's demands would cost DFS € 230 million over the next two years. This sum would ruin the company, says DFS. DFS had repeatedly urged the union to be more moderate in order to facilitate the start of the negotiations. The union, however, firmly insisted on its demands. The union is calling for a completely new salary structure which would guarantee considerable salary increases for air traffic controllers and the technical personnel. Together with the demand for a four per cent increase per year across the board, this would result in a 20 per cent salary increase for operational personnel. Individual staff members would even see their salaries rise by more than 50 per cent over the next two years. In addition, the union proposes one-time payments of between €3,500 and €10,400 for the majority of the controllers. Today, an air traffic controller has an average annual income of €98,000 and a net working time of between 25.5 and 36 hours per week. The demands also affect the pension costs. DFS would have to make additional provisions for pensions amounting to €500,000,000 over the next 15 years. The air navigation services are financed by airspace users, i.e. mainly by the airlines, which, in turn, recover the costs from their passengers. The union announced labour dispute action in the near future. Such action in air traffic control must, however, be announced 24 hours in advance. DFS explicitly pointed out to the union that, in the opinion of DFS, any strike concerning the present demands would be illegal since the demands were connected to a collective agreement that was still in force. 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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