A warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff caused disruptions at the group’s cargo subsidiary on Saturday.
2,500 employees were affected, including 2,200 in Frankfurt, said the Verdi union negotiator, Marvin Reschinsky. The background is the collective bargaining dispute with the company.
According to Verdi, employees who control the loading of machines at Lufthansa Cargo or who are responsible for handling freight went on strike. The action ran from morning until late evening.
While Verdi spoke of a stake of 90 percent, the company for Frankfurt stated it had a stake of around 50 percent. In Munich there were fewer, said a spokeswoman. Passengers were not affected. According to the spokeswoman, there were, for example, acceptance stops for special cargo due to the warning strike. This applies to animals, for example. We are now trying to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.
Lufthansa Cargo has a fleet of pure freighters, primarily with the wide-body Boeing 777 jet. But it also transports goods in the belly of passenger aircraft. Because of the strike, numerous cargo flights were canceled in the previous days. Flights were canceled again on Saturday.
Lufthansa was outraged by the warning strike and particularly criticized Verdi’s preconditions for returning to the negotiating table. The group therefore questioned the collective bargaining as a whole. So far the next round is scheduled for March 13th and 14th. Verdi is only willing to hold earlier discussions if the offer is increased.
Last week there was already a warning strike by Lufthansa technical staff from Wednesday to Friday. Lufthansa Technik is also responsible for repairing and overhauling machines, parts and engines for other companies. The airline, which was not on strike, does the daily maintenance itself. Passengers were not affected by this strike.
Verdi strikes Lufthansa again on the ground
Lufthansa passengers have to prepare for flight cancellations again due to a warning strike by the Verdi union. After last week’s strikes in technology and freight had only a minor impact on passenger traffic, the union stepped up on Monday and declared the longest strike to date in the passenger sector. On Thursday and Friday, as many flights as possible should be grounded again in order to increase the pressure on the Lufthansa Group.
According to Lufthansa, around 200,000 passengers are likely to be affected. Human resources director Michael Niggemann accused Verdi of deliberately seeking escalation: “There are far more strikes than negotiations.” With its uncompromising attitude, the union is damaging the company, hundreds of thousands of customers and employees. “Unlike in many other areas struck by Verdi, our customers have alternative choices due to international competition.” The union leadership ignores this.
The union has called on all ground staff to go on warning strike. It is scheduled to begin in passenger areas on Thursday at 4:00 a.m. and end on Saturday at 7:10 a.m. Different times apply for freight and technology, sometimes as early as Wednesday evening. Lufthansa spoke of 59 hours, which added up to 145 hours of warning strike with the previous rounds.
At the same time, collective bargaining is also underway for the approximately 25,000 employees of private aviation security companies at the larger German airports. It is not ruled out that these colleagues will join the Lufthansa team, a spokesman said upon request.
In the previous strike waves by passenger-related ground staff, each lasting just over a day, Lufthansa canceled between 80 and 90 percent of the program, so that hundreds of flights were canceled, especially at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. If the aviation security people go on strike, there is a risk that the airports will be completely closed to passengers because no one can be checked before entry.
The stalled talks at Lufthansa are primarily about more money for ground staff. Verdi is asking for 12.5 percent more money over a year, while Lufthansa has so far offered 10 percent for a term of 28 months. After four rounds of negotiations, the payment of an inflation compensation premium of 3,000 euros is comparatively undisputed.
Most recently there was a strike at Lufthansa Cargo
Last week, Verdi went on strike at Lufthansa parts of the company’s technology and cargo handling departments in order to force an improved offer from the company. So far the next round is scheduled for March 13th and 14th. Verdi is only willing to hold earlier talks if there is an increased offer, which Lufthansa has so far rejected.
According to Verdi, employees who control the loading of machines at Lufthansa Cargo or are responsible for handling freight went on strike on Saturday. According to Lufthansa, for example, there were acceptance stops for special cargo. We are now trying to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.
In a statement, Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky regretted the impact of the new warning strike on passengers: “In the past few days we have deliberately skipped passenger traffic with our strikes. However, by ignoring our request to negotiate, Lufthansa is telling us that it will only move “If the pressure continues to rise. Solutions and reliability are urgently needed for passengers. The employees and we are ready to make this happen with a serious offer.”
The Lufthansa share was temporarily quoted at 7.06 euros on XETRA and recorded a downturn of 1.79 percent.
FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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