Baggage handling has been on strike since 5am Sunday morning, said Verdi union secretary Lars Stubbe on Sunday in Hamburg.
The work stoppages were announced half an hour in advance.
According to the operator, the airport remained closed on Sunday due to the short-notice warning strike. The strike was originally only scheduled to take place on Monday night.
"There will be no departures or arrivals all day," the airport said.
Of the planned 144 arrivals and 139 departures with over 40,000 passengers, only ten flights were able to take place on Sunday morning.
Affected passengers were asked to contact their airline and not come to the airport.Â
Airport spokeswoman Katja Bromm called the union's behaviour "dishonourable."
"The strike without notice is hitting Hamburg Airport at the start of the holidays," said Bromm, meaning that "many families who have saved up for a long time for their trip are affected."
Spring holidays start on Monday.
The Verdi representative said that this strike was intended to put "effective" pressure on employers. Otherwise, employers would have had the "opportunity to undermine the strike by employing staff from external companies."
Warning strikes by federal and local public sector employees and those in the aviation security sector are planned at 13 airports across Germany on Monday.
In addition to Hamburg, affected airports include Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne/Bonn and Berlin/Brandenburg. The aviation security sector is also on strike at smaller airports in Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
The unions want to use these strikes to put pressure on ongoing wage negotiations for federal and local public sector employees and for aviation security.
According to airport association ADV, a total of more than 3,400 flights will be cancelled due to the warning strikes. Around 510,000 passengers will not be able to take their planned journeys as a result.
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