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Lufthansa strikers at Frankfurt Airport
Photo: Lando Hass/dpa
The collective bargaining dispute among Lufthansa ground staff has been resolved. After successful arbitration, Lufthansa and the Ver.di union have agreed on the basic principles of a collective agreement for around 25,000 employees, as they announced in Frankfurt. Details of the agreement should follow.
Ver.di had demanded 12.5 percent more money for a term of one year for the approximately 25,000 Lufthansa ground services employees, while the company had offered 10 percent for a term of 28 months.
Arbitrators should avert strikes over Easter
After five fruitless rounds of negotiations and several waves of warning strikes, both sides agreed that arbitrators should help resolve the wage dispute involving Lufthansa ground staff. In the best case scenario, strikes over Easter should be avoided.
Both sides had appointed their own arbitrator for this purpose. Lufthansa named the former head of the Federal Employment Agency, Frank-Jürgen Weise. The union relies on Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow. The left-wing politician and former trade unionist Ramelow led the collective bargaining disputes with the train drivers' union GDL to an agreement at the railway in 2015 and 2017. Weise was involved in resolving the conflict between Lufthansa and the UFO cabin union in 2019/2020.
In the event of failure, there was a risk of an indefinite strike by the airline's ground staff, a so-called forced strike. Ver.di had initiated the ballot, which should be completed by Maundy Thursday.
In past work stoppages, the majority of Lufthansa flights had to be canceled. Each time around 100,000 travelers had to change their plans.
There have also recently been industrial disputes among Lufthansa flight attendants, who are represented by the UFO branch union. Arbitration has also been agreed for the approximately 25,000 private aviation security personnel in the week after Easter.
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kko/dpa/Reuters