A strike at Lufthansa was averted last week after the union representing the Lufthansa pilots, Vereinigung Cockpit, reached a partial agreement with Lufthansa’s management on Tuesday September 6th. The exact details of the agreement were not disclosed.
“A comprehensive package of monetary and structural issues was essentially agreed and is awaiting elaboration in the coming days,” the union wrote in a press statement. Passenger plane pilots had been due to strike on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th, and cargo pilots from Wednesday 7th through Friday 9th of September.
We are pleased that a result was reached at the negotiating table and that further disruption was avoided
Marcel Groels, Vereinigung Cockpit union
Management had indicated that it would present a “new offer” to the pilots’ union in the hope of preventing a strike that would have had “massive consequences”. The union had emphasized that it needed a “serious offer” to call off the strike. To cope with inflation, the pilots’ union was demanding a wage increase of 5.5% this year, and 8.2% in 2023, as well as a readjustment of wage scales.
Management had initially proposed a total increase of 900 euros in two stages: 500 euros in September and 400 euros in April 2023. But the pilots rejected that offer and on Friday September 2nd, the airline had to cancel almost all of its flights out of Frankfurt and Munich, its main hubs in Germany. The strike affected 130,000 passengers.
“We are pleased that a result was reached at the negotiating table and that further disruption for customers, employees and companies could be avoided,” said Marcel Groels, responsible for the union’s collective bargaining policy.
According to Reuters, the union said it had agreed the basis of a comprehensive package of monetary and structural issues which would be further developed in the next few days.
Inflation reached 7.9% year-on-year in August in Germany, according to data published last week by the official statistics agency Destatis.
