The airline could face a strike.
(Photo: imago images/wolterfoto)
Frankfurt At Lufthansa, the threatened pilot strikes have come a little closer. The collective bargaining committee of the Cockpit Association rejected an improved offer from the company on Thursday, as a spokesman reported. Details were not given. Although it is going in the right direction, it is still far from sufficient, said the spokesman. You are currently too far apart and, in addition to compensating for the real wage losses, you also need a sustainable remuneration structure.
The union threatened that strikes were now possible after the board decision had been taken. However, she did not name specific dates, strike locations or companies. The Lufthansa core company in Frankfurt and Munich as well as the freight subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo come into question. The VC explained: “The legal and organizational preparations for strike measures have been started. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Cockpit Association can still be reached.”
The official reason for the possible labor dispute is the deadlock after six rounds of negotiations on a new wage agreement. A subsequent round of exploratory talks behind closed doors had also not produced any results by the end of last week. According to its own statements, the VC demands, among other things, salary increases of 5.5 percent in the current year and an automated inflation adjustment from the coming year. She had terminated the previous collective agreement on June 30th.
>> Also read: Lufthansa suddenly makes a profit again and wants to hire 10,000 employees – flight program further restricted
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In addition, a conflict smolders about the future corporate strategy. In the past, VC had had the exact number of 325 aircraft guaranteed, which were only allowed to be flown by the approximately 5,000 captains and first officers who were subject to the group collective agreement, which is also the issue now.
Under the impression of the corona crisis, Lufthansa had terminated the corresponding additional agreement and started to set up a new flight operation (AOC) with lower tariff conditions under the crane logo. The new airline, known internally as “Cityline 2”, is to take over numerous flights from the previous core company in European traffic.
According to VC, 97.6 percent voted in favor of the labor dispute in the Lufthansa passage, and at the smaller Lufthansa Cargo it was even 99.3 percent. According to the union, participation in both flight operations was over 93 percent. Approval from more than 70 percent of all those entitled to vote was required.
Strikes are also expected at Eurowings
It was only in July that the Verdi union almost paralyzed the flight operations of the largest German airline for a whole day with a warning strike by ground staff. More than 1,000 flights were canceled and around 134,000 passengers had to change their travel plans. In the subsequent round of negotiations, the union achieved salary increases for the approximately 20,000 land workers, which were well into the double digits, especially in the lower wage groups. Verdi had not held a ballot before the warning strike.
The pilots’ union also wants to get ready to strike at the largest Lufthansa subsidiary, Eurowings, with its around 100 aircraft. There the ballot of the pilots is to be counted on August 31st.
With around 4,000 employees, Lufthansa Cargo was the earnings pearl of the group even in the deepest corona crisis. In view of the disrupted supply chains worldwide, the importance of air freight increased, so that the logistics subsidiary delivered around 1.5 billion operating profits even in the otherwise loss-making Corona year 2021, which should roughly repeat itself in the current financial year.
The last pilots’ strike at Lufthansa ended in February 2017 after 14 rounds and an ultimately successful arbitration. According to information at the time, the industrial action that began in 2012 cost Lufthansa at least 500 million euros.
More: Up to 100,000 euros difference in salary: That’s how much pilots earn at Lufthansa and Eurowings