Baggage handlers working for passenger service group Menzies Aviation at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport went on strike on Friday. The airport has warned passengers to be prepared for delays and possible cancellations.
Menzies Aviation is one of several baggage handling companies operating at Schiphol, the busiest airport in the Netherlands. Theunions demand a 3.5 percent pay rise while the company is offering1.5 percent, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
Some 20 percent of the company's workforce of 500 are on strike, a spokesman for trade union De Unie told ANP.
Menzies is responsible for processing some 10 percent of Schiphol baggage. Among the 16 airlines it serves are Alitalia, Corendon, Cathay Pacific, Delta and Japan Airlines.
The industrial action, which is for an indefinite period, is likely to cause delays in flights, check-in and baggage collection on one of the airport's busiest days of the year, as many people are returning from spring holidays.
Menzies had sought to prevent the strike through legal action, but a court in Utrecht backed the workers' right to strike, saying the action would not cause significant damage or jeopardize security.
Source: Xinhua
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