Lufthansa buys its way out of the chaos – Condor reacts with a clever move

Created: 06/08/2022, 06:25

Lufthansa has settled the wage conflict with its ground staff with a far above-average wage agreement.

Competitor Condor, on the other hand, voluntarily pays inflation compensation to the staff.

Frankfurt/Main – There is chaos at German airports: there is a lack of staff, and Lufthansa employees are also on strike.

After all, the airline has now settled the wage conflict with its ground staff with a far above-average wage settlement.

Lufthansa: above-average wage agreement for ground staff

"The result includes inflation compensation and an additional increase in real wages," said Verdi negotiator Christine Behle happily late Thursday evening.

According to experts, however, the overall economic significance of the deal will remain limited for the time being.

Lufthansa does not seem to be unhappy about the collective agreement, which brings employees in the lower wage bracket almost 20 percent more money.

HR Director Michael Niggemann praises the construct of high base amounts and later percentage increases.

“It was important to us to disproportionately consider the lower and middle income groups.

In this way, we meet our social responsibility for our employees and ensure our attractiveness as an employer.”

Two Verdi members are standing at the entrance to the Lufthansa base at Frankfurt Airport.

© Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa

In the aviation industry, the MDax group competes with many others for the scarce workforce, but has to fill 10,000 additional jobs by the end of next year.

Together with the passengers, Lufthansa no longer has to fear any further strikes by the ground staff until the end of 2023.

If HR Director Michael Niggemann succeeds in pacifying the pilots of the Cockpit Association who are ready to go on strike, Lufthansa should be able to fly stably in the profit zone again.

Competitor Condor voluntarily pays employees inflation compensation

Competitor Condor was a little more skilful: the employees of the holiday airline can also expect higher salaries – without prior disputes between employers and employees.

also read

Gazprom claims turbine delivery is "impossible" - Habeck against VAT on gas surcharge

Top economist Sinn: "We are in the hands of Mr. Putin and that makes the whole thing unpredictable"

Although all collective agreements had been concluded, the company agreed with the unions Verdi, Ufo and Vereinigung Cockpit on salary increases of at least seven percent for the next two years.

With an officially determined inflation rate in the coming year above five percent, there should be another two percentage points more salary for the approximately 3000 employees, as a company spokeswoman explained on Friday.

According to Verdi, compensation payments for voluntary cabin services have also been increased.

Airport chaos: there is a lack of staff

Thousands of low-paid but systemically important workers were missing at the airports during the surprisingly steep restart this summer.

In the Corona crisis, the short-time work allowance was not enough for many, even with an increase, because there were no shift allowances, the Frankfurt airport operator Fraport reported, for example.

The flight of ordinary workers and employees from the airport to other jobs caused the handling chaos this summer, which ultimately could only be brought under control with fewer flights.

Lufthansa alone had to cancel almost 7,000 flights to stabilize the system.

New employees were also hard to come by at Fraport, and recruitment in Turkey, for example, initially failed due to bureaucratic hurdles.

Lufthansa: Over 90 percent participation in the warning strike

Verdi had deliberately calculated for Lufthansa that small service providers, for example for check-in, had significantly increased the salary and overtook Lufthansa in individual job profiles.

Companies such as AHS, Aviapartner, Acciona, FraGround and Stuttgart Ground Services were able to achieve increases of up to 26 percent without any strikes, often starting from very low levels.

Part of the impressive growth can be explained by the great need to catch up.

In 2018, Verdi had achieved two percentage increases of 3 percent each for Lufthansa ground staff over a period of 33 months.

During the Corona crisis, employees waived holiday and Christmas bonuses, and there have been no salary increases since May 2019.

The high loads during the chaotic restart fueled dissatisfaction.

"We had 90 to 95 percent participation in last week's warning strike," says Verdi strike leader Marvin Reschinsky.

For the ground staff, Verdi had demanded salary increases of 9.5 percent over a period of twelve months, but at least 350 euros a month.

The result has now been at least 325 euros in 18 months plus a further increase of 2.5 percent.

The first fixed amount of 200 euros per month will be paid retroactively from July 1, 2022, from January 1, 2023 there will be another 2.5 percent, but at least 125 euros per month.

From July 2023 there will be another percentage increase of 2.5 percent without a minimum amount.

The term ends on December 31, 2023.