Hundreds of Berlin flights canceled in ground crew strike

BERLIN – Ground crews are on strike at Berlin's airports in a dispute over wages, causing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

At the German capital's main Tegel airport 455 flights were canceled and at the Schoenefeld airport on the outskirts of the city a further 204 were called off, the dpa news agency reported Friday.

The Ver.di union says some 2,000 ground crew personnel it represents walked off the job starting at 4 a.m. and will remain on strike until Saturday at 5 a.m. in an effort to increase pressure on employers amid new wage negotiations.

Ver.di says it has not yet received an offer that would form the basis for negotiations, adding that it finds this "incomprehensible" in view of recent agreements with crews at other German airports.