The walkout of around 1,000 airport employees over new pay conditions started at 4am on Friday and was initially due to end at 10am before being extended.
The threat of another day’s walkout on Saturday was averted after interventions by politicians of the canton of Geneva, which owns the airport.
The dispute over new pay terms was cooled by an agreement to put off the changes for a year, until 2025. In the meantime, a joint commission will thrash out the finer details of the new package.
All flights at Switzerland’s second-busiest airport were cancelled between 6am and 10am, affecting some 8,000 passengers. More flights were delayed or cancelled on Friday with managers and union leaders blaming each other.
“Of course it’s unfortunate but we ask passengers to direct their anger towards the airport management that is responsible for this mess,” Jamshid Pouranpir, union secretary of the Public Services Union VPOD, told the Reuters news agency.
But Pierre Bernheim, president of Geneva Airport, said the strike was unjustified, saying that pay and work conditions are excellent. “I’m sad because they are taking passengers, who may have saved money for a long time, hostage,” he said.
A total of around 54,000 passengers and 394 flights were expected take to the air before the work stoppage caused cancellations.
First airport strike
The walkout is the first strike by workers directly employed by the airport since it started operations in 1919, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
“The new wage system proposed by the airport’s management includes significant wage cuts. It no longer contains any guarantee for wage developments and opens the door wide to arbitrariness,” VPOD had previously stated.
Earlier this month Swiss International Air Lines warned of “unprecedented” strike disruption in other countries, such as Germany and Italy.
Geneva airport handled nearly 18 million passengers last year and 186,000 flight movements.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
How centuries of Swiss emigrants left their mark on the US
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
This content was published on
Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner won the 5,000 metres to bring home Switzerland’s first gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
SWISS braced for strike action disruption to flights
This content was published on
Swiss International Air Lines has warned passengers to expect some delays and even cancellations in the face of strike action in other countries.
Air transport strikes in Germany leads to cancelled flights
This content was published on
SWISS is cancelling a number of flights between Switzerland and some German cities. Road and rail traffic is said to also be affected.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.