01 pm to build pressure in a wage dispute with the airline..
The pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), is striking all Lufthansa flights operating out of German airports in protest over the company’s pension plan. “Our goal remains a future‑proof collective agreement that provides security and reliability for both current pilots and newly hired cockpit staff” said Arne Karstens, spokesperson for the Group Tarifkommission. Karstens added that it is now the employer’s turn to take responsibility and present an offer. He left the next steps of the strike open.
The Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (Ufo) is striking cabin crew from Lufthansa flights departing Frankfurt and Munich, as well as from Lufthansa Cityline flights at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hannover. The union demands better working conditions for cabin crew and opposes any cuts to existing protective regulations. “It has become clear that Lufthansa has no intention of meeting our demands for a new umbrella collective agreement” declared Harry Jaeger, head of tariff politics and negotiator for Ufo. “On the contrary, management is determined to lower the protective level of working conditions”. Jaeger criticised the airline’s plan to boost productivity through a poorer work-life balance, and called the approach “absurd”.
Cabin crew at Cityline are also demanding a contractual social plan. Jaeger noted that staff have been told for over a year that Cityline’s future is uncertain, leaving them “obviously facing the end of their jobs”. He warned that the cabin crew needs a social plan urgently, otherwise they might “suddenly find themselves existentially confronted with nothing”.