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Strike at Lufthansa: Verdi is calling on ground staff for a warning strike on Wednesday

2022-07-25T10:49:22.244Z


In the middle of the holiday season, there are signs of additional chaos at German airports: the Verdi union called on Lufthansa ground workers to go on strike nationwide on Wednesday.


Enlarge image

Strike on Wednesday:

Lufthansa employees want to stop work

Photo: DPA

The strike is scheduled to begin at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning and end at 6 a.m. on Thursday.

There will be "major flight cancellations and delays," Verdi warned.

Lufthansa criticized the walkout as a "considerable and unnecessary burden" for passengers and employees.

The call for a strike was aimed at the employees of all Lufthansa locations, for example in Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich or Berlin, as Verdi further announced.

The ground workers are responsible for handling passengers, baggage and cargo, for maintaining the aircraft and also for pushing the machines into the appropriate positions.

The background to the call for a strike is the faltering collective bargaining for the approximately 20,000 Lufthansa employees in the ground sector.

No result was reached in the second round of collective bargaining in mid-July.

The previous offer from the employer's side was discussed by the employees concerned and rejected as "insufficient", explained Verdi.

With the warning strike, the union wanted to "increase the pressure on employers".

In the next round of negotiations they would have to present a "significantly improved, final offer".

Verdi negotiator Christine Behle said the situation at the airports was escalating.

Overworked workers due to a significant shortage of staff, high inflation and a three-year wage cut would put workers under increasing pressure.

The difficult situation of the employees was "mainly caused by mismanagement", criticized Behle.

The workers "urgently need more money, and they need relief - for themselves and for the passengers".

Verdi demands 9.5 percent more salary for a term of twelve months and a minimum hourly wage of 13 euros.

Lufthansa submitted an offer consisting of fixed amounts and a component dependent on business development with a term of 18 months.

According to the company, this means an increase of nine to almost eleven percent within the next twelve months for employees with a monthly basic salary of 3,000 euros gross.

Lufthansa reacted with incomprehension to the union's call for a strike.

Due to its duration and breadth across all locations, this could "hardly be described as a warning strike", criticized HR Director Michael Niggemann.

The next round of negotiations will take place on August 3rd and 4th in Frankfurt am Main.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-07-25

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