Workers complain about staff shortages
BRUSSELS (Reuters) — Thousands of passengers at Brussels Airport suffered a fifth day of flight cancellations as baggage handlers and management of Aviapartner failed to resolve a dispute over working conditions.
Brussels Airport said that 130 of a total of 630 planned flights had been cancelled, bringing the total of cancellations since Thursday evening to 660, a spokeswoman said.
Unions and management of Aviapartner broke off talks on Sunday evening, but were due to meet again on Monday. The baggage handlers are complaining that they are under too much pressure at work because of a shortage of staff.
The strike, which had not been called by unions in advance, was set to continue until at least Tuesday morning.
Aviapartner deals with baggage for 29 airlines in and out of Brussels Airport, including Ryanair and KLM. It does not have an impact on Belgium’s main carrier, Brussels Airlines, which uses a different operator to handle luggage.
