Verdi Urges Lufthansa Ground Staff to Stage Warning Strike

The labor union Verdi has issued a call for Lufthansa ground staff to engage in a comprehensive warning strike throughout the day this Wednesday. The strike is slated to commence at 4 a.m., impacting Lufthansa facilities in major cities such as Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, and Düsseldorf. This industrial action is anticipated to persist until Thursday, concluding at 7:10 a.m. on February 8th.

Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky expressed that the proposed strike could have been averted if Lufthansa had extended salary increases to ground employees on par with other employee groups within the company. However, Reschinsky noted a lack of willingness from Lufthansa during the negotiation process. The strike call is rooted in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations affecting approximately 25,000 ground staff across various Lufthansa entities, including Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, and Lufthansa Cargo.

Verdi contends that the negotiations have seen an unsatisfactory offer, specifically criticizing the initial eight zero months without compensation, meager increments, a lengthy 36-month term, and unaddressed demands. The proposed offer includes an average increase of less than two percent in the first year, with employees outside Lufthansa Technik receiving a lower inflation compensation bonus.

The union is advocating for a 12.5 percent salary hike for Lufthansa ground staff, equivalent to a minimum of 500 euros per month over a twelve-month period. Additionally, they are calling for a group-wide inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros for all employees. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for February 12th in Frankfurt am Main. It's worth noting that previous strikes by ground workers significantly disrupted flight operations during the last collective bargaining round, with a strike in July 2022 causing widespread disruption at Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.

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