Schiphol airport is planning to go to court to halt next Tuesday’s strike by security staff, which KLM says will disrupt 600 flights.

‘We want to do all we can to make sure that travellers are not hit,’ a spokesman for Schiphol told the AD.  A strike would have ‘far reaching consequences’ for airlines and some 20,000 passengers, the spokesman said. ‘Everyone who flies has to through security checks and if you can’t do that, you can’t fly.’

Some 4,000 security staff work at Schiphol. They are demanding a pay rise of 3%, improved rosters and more job security. The employers, however, have said there will be no pay rise until next year.

‘Schiphol has been told now because a 24 hour strike will have consequences for the airport and air traffic,’ Mohamed Gafki of the FNV Security union told broadcaster NOS last week, when the strike on September 4 was announced.

‘That means things can be organised in an orderly way. Travellers can be informed in time, tickets can be rebooked, flights cancelled etc,’ Gafki said.

The private security pay and conditions deal covers 31,000 people who work in the private security industry. Short strikes have already been held at some locations, including the ministry of defence and Amsterdam’s VU University.