Lufthansa faces strike disruption Feb. 7 and 8

Lufthansa is set to face more disruptions this week after ground staff announced a new strike for Wednesday.

The planned strike will see Lufthansa ground employees, represented by the Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft union, partake in an all-day walkout on Feb. 7. It will last from 4 a.m. local time on Feb. 7 to 7:10 a.m. local time on Feb. 8.

The strike is expected to impact Lufthansa flights at Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Munich Airport (MUC), Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and Dusseldorf Airport (DUS) and follows a mass walkout that took place last week. That one led to significant flight disruptions across Germany.

“Due to the warning strike called by the trade union Verdi on Wednesday and Thursday … extensive effects on the flight program are expected during this period,” Lufthansa said in a statement on X. “Affected guests will receive initial information by email or in the app from around 4 p.m. today.”

The Ver.di union is currently embroiled in collective bargaining for around 25,000 Lufthansa employees. It’s seeking a wage increase of 12.5% to offset inflation, alongside increased bonuses and overtime pay.

The new round of strikes comes following a breakdown in negotiations with Lufthansa.

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“This strike would be unnecessary if Lufthansa were to grant ground employees the same increases as other employee groups in the group. However, there was no willingness to do this at the negotiating table,” Ver.di negotiator Marvin Reschinsky said in a statement.

The union claims that affected staff are currently around 10% worse off than they were three years ago, and it has warned that longer strikes could be on the horizon if a deal is not met.

The next round of negotiations will take place Feb. 12, 2024.

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