Strikes by airline Lufthansa will hit thousands of British passengers hoping to fly to Germany as staff vowed to go on strike across the country’s biggest airports within days.
Ground staff belonging to the Verdi union are planning to walk out across seven different airports including Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin from 3am (GMT) on Tuesday until 6.10am on Wednesday.
More than 100,000 passengers are expected to be impacted by the walkout, said Lufthansa, adding it was drawing up an alternative flight plan.
The airline’s human resource chief Michael Niggemann blasted the union’s decision, saying the action would once again ‘put a disproportionate burden on our guests’.
But the union said no progress had been made since its action earlier this month, justifying the strike for 25,000 workers, including maintenance employees and airport counter staff across the company.
Strikes by airline Lufthansa will hit thousands of British passengers hoping to fly to Germany as staff vowed to go on strike across the countries biggest airports within days
Ground staff belonging to the Verdi union are planning to walk out across seven different airports on Tuesday
Striking Lufthansa ground crew employees gather, raising the pressure in wage talks
The union argued that an overly low pay offer was made to the staff in comparison to other employee categories such as pilots.
‘While the company is offering pilots with annual basic wages of up to 270,000 euros ($298,000) raises reaching two-digit figures, ground staff are unable to break even given the inflation of the last years,’ said Verdi’s lead negotiator Marvin Reschinsky.
‘We don’t want this escalation. We want a quick result for employees and passengers,’ said the union.
Verdi wants a wage rise of 12.5 per cent for around 25,000 workers, or at least €500 more per month over a 12-month-period, plus a one-time payment of €3,000 to offset inflation.
Lufthansa offered to raise wages by four percent in December before another 5.5 percent increase in February 2025.
Verdi wants a wage rise of 12.5 per cent for around 25,000 workers
Striking Lufthansa ground crew employees hold a banner reading ‘Enough now!!’
Information boards shows the message ‘Due to the strike this counter is unfortunately closed today’
It has also said it would pay a 3,000 euros inflation bonus to each worker.
The next round of negotiations will take place on February 21.
Germany has been hit by a spate of strikes in recent months across varying sectors including transport, the civil service and supermarkets.
Pinched by inflation over the last few years and in the wake of the Covid pandemic, workers are demanding higher wages to cope with the cost of living.