Air strike threat removed after union's demand met

Germany's air safety authority averted warning strikes by the country's air traffic controllers after agreeing to union demands for improved working conditions.

Germany's air safety authority averted warning strikes by the country's air traffic controllers after agreeing to union demands for improved working conditions.

In a joint announcement late yesterday, management and the ver.di services union said they had agreed on extra vacation for controllers at the busiest airports, such as Frankfurt.

Further measures to reduce their workload are to be introduced by the end of 2003 under a wage agreement last year, which foresees the employment of some 200 extra controllers.

But unions demanded immediate measures to counterbalance increased air traffic.

The negotiations did not involve wage demands for Germany's 1,800 controllers.

"It's about our health, not about money," Klaus Formel, a representative of the Union of German Air Traffic Controllers, said.