BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Around 200 flights were cancelledahead of a strike over pay by ground staff at Berlin's twoairports expected to start later on Thursday.
There were 146 cancellations at Tegel and 54 at Schoenefeldairports and 12 flights were redirected to other Germanairports, a spokesman for Berlin's airports said.
Trade union Verdi has called for walk-outs at the twoairports from 1500 GMT to 2100 GMT. A strike on Wednesday lastweek led to more than 130 flights being cancelled.
Verdi wants an increase in pay for ground staff to 12 eurosan hour from about 11 euros as part of a one-year collectiveagreement. Ground staff jobs include checking in passengers,loading and unloading planes and directing them on the tarmac.
The union described as "insufficient" management's offer ofa four-year deal, which foresees a rise of 1 percent each year,or about 10 cents an hour.
The employers, a group of airport ground services providers,said in a statement the renewed strike was "incomprehensible" astalks were still ongoing. The next round of pay talks is due totake place on Friday.
Berlin's airports are served by carriers including AirBerlin, Lufthansa, easyJet andRyanair among others. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Writing by Maria Sheahan. Editingby Jane Merriman)
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