Airport staff say they are suffering from depression and won't go back to work without a 20% pay rise

Many of the staff at one of Europe's largest airports have said they will not return to work without a 20% pay rise.

A ground handling agent at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris said he and other workers were striking over the cost of living.

Airport staff in Paris are picketing for better pay. 10% of flights out of the airport have been canceled because of it. France's aviation authority ordered the scrapping of over a dozen flights yesterday.

He said the schedule left his colleagues with signs of depression.

"When you start at 5 a.m. or work odd hours all the time, this leads to burn out, and at the moment there are loads of airport staff who are on sick leave for depression," he said.

The airports in Europe and America are having a hard time keeping up with the increased demand for air travel.

It has led to a number of issues, including London Heathrow turning passengers away from its packed airport, and Delta airline workers picketing at hub airports in the US.

Nicolas Pereira, a striking airport worker with the CGT union, told the AP that working conditions deteriorated dramatically at the Roissy airport because there were 20,000 fewer employees.

The bosses who laid off workers during the COVID period are responsible.

The CGT trade union wants Aeroports de Paris to give all staff a 300 euro monthly pay raise.

Inflation in the Eurozone, of which France is a member, was estimated to have hit an all time high in June. He said his current monthly salary of 1,770 euros was not enough.

Marine Marivel, who has worked as a security agent at Charles De Gaulle for 18 years, told the New York Times that she was spending almost two-thirds of her take- home pay on rent. Staffing shortages doubled her workload.