The pilots of the first European air transport group, Lufthansa, have overwhelmingly approved the principle of a strike to support wage demands in the face of inflation, their union announced on Sunday.
This is “
a signal that cannot be ignored
,” said the branch union Cockpit in a press release.
The threat of seeing Lufthansa planes grounded in the near future is growing, but the result of the consultation does
not "yet automatically mean that we come to strike measures
", he added.
He intends to immediately reopen negotiations with the management, currently at an impasse, "
with even more support
" from his base.
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Lufthansa has approximately 5,500 pilots in its passenger and freight transport activities.
Cockpit is the only union to represent them.
The consultation gave a majority of 97.6% in favor of the principle of the strike among passenger pilots, and 99.3% among cargo pilots.
Attendance was approximately 95% of members.
Wage increase and job guarantee
The pilots are asking, in the face of soaring inflation, for a 5.5% increase in their salaries this year, then automatic indexation to inflation.
The union is also asking for a guarantee on the volume of the Lufthansa fleet, in order to secure the pilots' jobs.
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This conflict is in addition to another already underway for Lufthansa with ground staff, who took part in a 24-hour work stoppage on July 27, which caused major traffic disruptions in Germany.
Their union, Verdi, is demanding wage increases of 9.5%.
In both cases, management has so far refused to accede to wage demands.