The pilots of the battered Lufthansa want to "keep the crane in the air". In return, they even offer to forego salary - under certain conditions.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - The pilots of Lufthansa continue to offer the stricken company a voluntary waiver of salary.
Before a meeting of Lufthansa management with unions this Wednesday, the union cockpit union (VC) renewed its offer for cost savings of around 350 million euros. "We want to keep the crane in the air," said VC President Markus Wahl. "Due to the existing difficulties, we are ready to implement our package in the scope offered and without further conditions until the end of 2020."
Lufthansa has invited the VC and the trade unions Verdi and Ufo (cabin crew) to the "tariff partner summit" this Wednesday. A first meeting at the end of April to reorganize the corona crisis had no tangible results.
The employees of Lufthansa, which is to be supported with a government rescue package of nine billion euros, have to adjust to job cuts and deep cuts. In purely mathematical terms, the company hard hit by the Corona crisis has significantly more than 10,000 jobs too many on board, as Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said recently. How many jobs would be cut also depends on the negotiations with the unions.
The pilot union pointed out that more than a month ago it had put a savings package worth almost 350 million euros on the table. "In view of this substantial offer, VC expects that this project will tackle upcoming projects in partnership." Using this contribution to outsource jobs on poorer terms was totally unacceptable.
When the savings package was first presented at the end of April, the pilots initially offered a voluntary waiver until the summer of 2022 - but under several conditions. The offer included a salary reduction of up to 45 percent for the more than 5000 active pilots in the group collective agreement, it was said at the time. The group employs around 138,000 people.
The corona pandemic with the travel restrictions almost brought Lufthansa business to a standstill, with the exception of freight. The group therefore needs state help. In return, Lufthansa has to surrender take-off and landing rights to the competition at its important airports in Frankfurt and Munich.
