As of: March 7, 2024, 10:51 a.m
By: Amy Walker
Comments
Press
Split
Lufthansa passenger jets are parked at an airport.
© Boris Roessler/dpa/Symbolbild
Germany is sinking into strike chaos.
In addition to the industrial dispute at Deutsche Bahn, negotiations are currently taking place at several levels at Lufthansa.
There could be chaos over Easter.
Frankfurt – Lufthansa passengers have to expect strikes from another professional group.
Shortly before the fifth wave of Verdi warning strikes began on the ground, the flight attendants voted for strikes with a clear majority of more than 96 percent on Wednesday.
This is what the ballots at Lufthansa and its regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline revealed, as the UFO union announced on Wednesday (March 6) in Mörfelden-Walldorf near Frankfurt.
This could threaten chaos, especially during the upcoming Easter holiday season, if Lufthansa has to come to a standstill and at the same time the strikes in rail transport continue.
Strike at Lufthansa threatens: 15 percent more wages demanded
However, a decision on a possible strike scenario and a date will not be made until later.
UFO boss Joachim Vázquez Bürger emphasized the determination of the members and the entire cabin, which is also reflected in the numerous new entries.
A strike is still avoidable: “We remain open to appropriate offers and fair solutions from the employer in order to possibly avert strikes at short notice.”
For the approximately 18,000 cabin employees at Lufthansa and the almost 1,000 employees at Cityline, UFO is essentially demanding 15 percent more money with a contract term of 18 months.
The union also wants to achieve an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros and higher allowances.
The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO), founded in 1992, is a sectoral union that exclusively represents flight attendants, primarily at Condor and the Lufthansa Group.
In individual flight operations, it competes closely with the DGB union Verdi, which also wants to organize the flying staff.
Coordinated cooperation between the two hostile unions is unlikely.
Verdi and UFO: Two hostile unions
Until the first strike in 2012, which was also about defending against temporary work, the representation of the mostly service-oriented cabin crew was considered tame.
That changed in the years that followed, when then-chairman Nicoley Baublies led the UFO in the longest strike in Lufthansa's history in 2015, lasting eight days.
In the post-Corona year of 2022, UFO was the only union in the Lufthansa Group to refrain from taking industrial action.
In the collective bargaining agreement, the lower wage groups in particular were raised, while the inflation compensation bonus was postponed until the current collective bargaining round.
A warning strike at the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover this year was the last work stoppage led by the union, which has had to contend with considerable intra-union squabbles since 2018.
The current chairman, Joachim Vazquez Bürger, flies with Lufthansa Cityline and was elected in November 2023.
My news
Traffic light law on pensions: From 2028, employees will have significantly less net from the gross reading
Pension system like in Austria: Hubertus Heil wants civil servants to pay into the pension fund
Return transfers of social benefits: This is how much money asylum seekers really transfer to their home countries
2 hours ago
Now Weselsky explains his “error in thinking” – and attacks the DB boss and his “propaganda department”.
Pension increase in summer 2024: Heil gives the first forecast for pensioners
Greens celebrate the answer to a citizen's money request - but only name half the truth
Regardless of the UFO strike vote, the Verdi union has called on employees in Lufthansa's technology, logistics and training areas to go on a warning strike from Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.
All other members of the ground staff should join the strike on Thursday at 4 a.m.
The warning strike ends for all participants on Saturday at 7:10 a.m.
In addition, the aviation security forces in Hamburg and Frankfurt are scheduled to go on strike on Thursday, so that no passengers will be able to board there that day.
(wal/dpa)