Sunday, February 18, 2024

German labor union calls on Lufthansa ground staff to strike at 7 airports on Tuesday

Sun, February 18, 2024

BERLIN (AP) — A labor union in Germany has called on ground staff for Lufthansa to walk off the job at seven airports on Tuesday following a similar strike earlier this month.

The Ver.di union said Sunday that the one-day strike will affect the airports in Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa's two main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart. It will run from 4 a.m. Tuesday to 7:10 a.m. Wednesday.

A 27-hour strike at five of the same airports that started Feb. 7 prompted the airline to cancel hundreds of flights.

The union is seeking pay raises of 12.5%, or at least 500 euros ($539) more per month, in negotiations for about 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance and freight staff. Several-hour or one-day “warning strikes” are a common tactic in German contract negotiations.

A round of talks on Feb. 12 produced no agreement. More negotiations are scheduled for Wednesday.

The Associated Press

Lufthansa ground staff to strike on Tuesday, says union

Reuters
Sun, February 18, 2024 

 Lufthansa planes parked at Frankfurt Airport

BERLIN (Reuters) -Ground staff at German airline Lufthansa [LHAG.DE] will go on strike on Tuesday, the Verdi union said on Sunday, announcing the latest industrial action to hit Germany's transport sector as workers demand more pay.

The strike is scheduled to start at 4 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Tuesday and finish at 7.10 a.m. (0610 GMT) on Wednesday, the union said.

The airports affected are Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart.

Michael Niggemann, the Lufthansa executive board member responsible for human resources, said the strike was unfortunate as the German carrier had made a "far reaching" offer during talks - which Verdi had rejected - and it would inconvenience customers and staff alike.

A similar strike caused the cancellation of 900 out of 1,000 planned flights at the start of February, affecting about 100,000 passengers.

The ground services arm is among several groups of Lufthansa workers in negotiations over collective bargaining agreements.

Verdi is demanding a wage increase of 12.5% for 25,000 ground staff workers, or at least 500 euros ($544.30) a month more over a 12-month period, plus a one-off payment of 3,000 euros to offset inflation.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, has been hit with a number of nationwide strikes affecting air travel, railways and public transport.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenback and Alexander RatzWriting by Sarah MarshEditing by David Goodman)

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