Next Wednesday (July 27), Lufthansa passengers will have to prepare for increased flight cancellations and delays. In the ongoing wage negotiations for around 20,000 ground staff, the Verdi union has called for a one-day warning strike.
According to the information, the warning strike will begin at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning and will end at 6 a.m. on Thursday. Ground staff include technicians and logisticians, without whose services the aircraft cannot take off.
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Verdi had rejected an initial tariff offer from Lufthansa, but agreed to continue negotiations for August 3rd and 4th. According to union information, the company had offered fixed amounts and a result-related component for a period of 18 months during the negotiations.
The union, on the other hand, is demanding 9.5 percent more money in the wage tables for a 12-month term. With a term of 12 months, the lower wage groups should particularly benefit. The salary increase must be at least 350 euros and, in addition, all hourly wages should differ significantly from the statutory minimum wage, which will rise to 12 euros an hour in October.
In view of the overwork, the high inflation and a wage cut for three years, significant wage increases are justified, said the negotiator Christine Behle. She is Verdi Vice Chair and also Deputy Chair of the Lufthansa Supervisory Board.
The situation at the airports is escalating, said Behle. The overloading of employees due to a significant shortage of staff, high inflation and a three-year wage cut would put the employees under increasing pressure.
Lufthansa described the warning strike as “unreasonable”. “Verdi announced a strike after just two days of negotiations, which can hardly be described as a warning strike due to its breadth across all locations and its duration,” explained Michael Niggemann, Lufthansa’s Board Member for Human Resources and Labor Director.
