On the morning of June 29, the Swiss Public Services Union (SSP) confirmed that it would be carrying out a strike at Geneva Airport from June 30, 2023. While the action was initially expected to halt all flights departing and arriving at the airport between 6am and 10am on June 30, union leaders have since announced that the action will continue for the rest of Friday, after talks between officials and airport bosses broke down.
Update: the SSP union has agreed to call off the strike for July 1, after an intervention by the cantonal government of Geneva. The proposed salary plan has now been delayed until 2025 and the two sides are now in discussions about revising the proposal to suit both parties.
From 4am on June 30, workers at Geneva Airport will go out on strike. The strike action, announced by the SSP union last week, is in response to a new plan for salaries proposed by the owners of the airport.
At the time, the SSP warned that if the airport accepted the salary reform - which they argued would remove bonuses, freeze some salaries until retirement and would base wage increases on performance, not seniority - they would “paralyse” flight operations in and out of Geneva. Now, with the plan being accepted by a “large majority” of the board of directors on the morning of June 29, the SSP followed through on their threat and began the strike early on Friday morning.
The walkout was initially scheduled for between 4am and 10am on June 30. However, after talks between the union and the airport broke down, the SSP has now extended the strike to cover the whole of June 30 and July 1. The action is expected to halt the majority of flight operations at the airport, affecting up to 54.000 passengers a day.
“No flights landing and no flights leaving…security searches of passengers will not be ensured, and the employees responsible for the security on the track will stop working. It is obvious that the planes will be grounded," warned SSP union secretary Jamshid Pouranpir last week.
64 flights in and out of Geneva were cancelled on the morning of June 30, the airport confirmed, though disruption appeared to ease after 10am.
Anyone planning to travel to or from Geneva Airport on June 30 and July 1 should expect delays and cancellations. The airport advised passengers to arrive at least two and a half hours before their scheduled departure and remain in frequent contact with their airline. A spokesperson added that management regrets the situation, especially considering that June 30 marks the first day of the school holidays for many children across Switzerland.
Regular updates about the disruption will be provided by the Geneva Airport website and the GVApp. “We take all possible measures to ensure the smooth running of operations and apologise for any inconvenience," the airport wrote on its website.
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