The conflict with airline personnel in Germany still shows no signs of resolution.
While the conflict has been bogged down for several weeks, it is Lufthansa ground staff who are called to strike on Tuesday in the main German airports.
The goal ?
Obtain salary increases from management to compensate for inflation.
The Verdi union is calling for walkouts between Tuesday 4 a.m. and Wednesday 7:10 a.m. at the airports of “Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart”.
According to the union which represents nearly 25,000 employees, “It is likely that flight cancellations and significant delays will occur.”
A previous strike at the beginning of February was very successful, causing the cancellation of almost 90% of the flights initially planned by the group.
This announcement comes after the failure of the third round of price negotiations between Lufthansa management and employee representatives.
A 12.5% increase in salaries
Verdi is demanding a 12.5% increase in salaries with at least 500 euros more immediately on the monthly pay slip as well as an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros.
The objective is to compensate for inflation in recent years in Germany which reached 5.9% last year, after 6.9% in 2022.
The company, for its part, is proposing an increase of 4% in December, before an increase of 5.5% in February 2025. For Verdi, this is too little.
“While the group grants its pilots double-digit raises, ground staff are not even compensated for inflation,” lamented Marvin Reschinsky, who negotiates on behalf of the union.
Last August, Lufthansa pilots obtained pay increases of more than 17% in total, putting an end to a price dispute lasting several months with management.
The pilots of Discover, the group's leisure subsidiary, are also on strike this weekend and until Monday for the introduction of a salary scale and regulations on flight missions and rest times.