Deal struck to end Geneva airport strike

A deal has been reached to end an hours-long strike by ground staff at Geneva airport, which had caused numerous flight delays and cancellations during the holiday rush. "Victory!", the SSP public sector union said on X, formerly Twitter, shortly before midday. The workers began their strike about eight hours earlier, at 4 am (0300 GMT), demanding "dignified working conditions and decent wages" from their employer, the Dubai National Air Travel Agency (dnata). The employees "have succeeded in repelling attacks on their retirement fund and in obtaining improved salaries, indemnities and overtime compensation", SSP said. Dnata, an Emirati airport service provider, confirmed in a statement "the resolution of the industrial action", adding that its employees had returned to work at noon. Around 80 strikers had gathered in front of the airport before dawn, wearing bright yellow safety vests and brandishing union flags and posters with messages like: "Dnata is killing me" and "Precarious work means grounded flights". Geneva airport stressed Sunday that it had not been involved in the dispute between dnata and its employees, and said it regretted that the strike had gone ahead while negotiations were ongoing. The airport said six flights had been cancelled as a result, while some others had been delayed by more than an hour. In addition, "a number of flights were operated without loading or offloading luggage", the statement said. Prior to the deal, airport spokesman Ignace Jeannerat told AFP that only flights assisted by dnata personnel had faced problems.<br/>