Germany: Verdi and police unions fight in the airport safety sector

Verdi says security agents aren’t police.  “They’re liars, crooks!”  Andreas Sander, chief negotiator in the aircraft industry for Verdi, doesn’t mince his words when describing the way the German police union (Deutsche Polizeigewerkschaft – DpolG) has been trying, since the end of 2011, to get new members among the security agents working in German airports.  “They tell the agents that they are police officers when they work for private security firms” the unionist says, before adding, “You don’t see us trying to recruit members among police officers! They should also keep to their sphere.”  Currently, nearly 15,000 security agents work in German airports.  Their goal is to search passengers and their carry-on and checked luggage, cargos, technical or flying staff, and guarantee security on plane areas.  In the past, the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) used to perform these tasks which were later transferred to private security firms (Securitas, FIS, Frasec or Kötter).  Since the end of 2011, the German police union has been trying to recruit new members via methods that can sometimes be considered rather unorthodox.  “In addition to free membership for three months and movie tickets, they offer new members a service ID with a logo looking like the police’s and reading, on the back, ‘The person who holds this card is a police officer.’”  Security agents appreciate this ID, seen as prestigious and giving value to their activity.  “But it’s not.  They are not police officers” Verdi insists.  “And the police union’s statutes don’t allow it to represent security agents in private companies.”