On Sunday, Lufthansa pilots, members of the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, took a vote to decide whether or not to take industrial action. The vote passed with 97.6% of the members being in favour for striking, thus further disruptions in the airline’s already affected summer schedule are expected.
Previous strikes, on top of staff shortages, have already forced Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights this summer, causing at the same time extremely long queues at the major airports it services.
The result of the vote only shows that the pilots are ready and willing to take action, but, for the moment, they are open to negotiation. “We are showing we are ready to talk”, explained Marcel Gröls, a board member of the pilot’s union.
We now need a modern and fair, internationally competitive remuneration structure in all professional groups. In the interest of our passengers, Lufthansa needs to find a solution in order to jointly create a creative solution in the interest of the company and its employees.
Marcel Gröls, VC board member
VC indicated that they want a 5.5% increase in pay this year, as well as automatic inflation adaptation of salaries in the future. Furthermore, the union also demands a uniform paying system to be implemented for all the employees of any airline included in the Lufthansa group, including flagship carrier Lufthansa and budget unit Eurowings.
A spokesperson for the airline told Reuters they respect the result of the vote and hope for a constructive solution at the negotiating table.
In a separate dispute, the pilots at Lufthansa’s Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), represented by the Aeropers union, have rejected, with 80% of the votes, a new contract proposal. The union said it wanted to resume negotiations with the management of SWISS as soon as possible.
If management continues not to recognise the signs of the times and does not immediately offer adequate solutions, then the pilots must show the management even more clearly how dissatisfied they are.
Aeropers spokesperson
The union clarified that the pilot’s contracts expired in April, but the airline refused proposals for the new contracts after initial talks between management and Aeropers.
It remains to be seen when or if the strikes will take place and what their impact will be.
