Lufthansa flight attendants vote for strike – date still unknown

There is now also a threat of strikes by flight attendants at Lufthansa. More than 96 percent of its members voted in favor of it in a ballot, the UFO union said. A strike date has not yet been set.

Lufthansa passengers must expect strikes from another professional group. Shortly before the start of the fifth ver.di warning strike on the ground, the flight attendants voted for strikes with a clear majority of more than 96 percent. This is what the strike votes at Lufthansa and its regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline revealed, the UFO union announced. A decision on a possible strike scenario and a date will be made later.

Union open to offers

UFO boss Joachim Vázquez Bürger emphasized the determination of the members and the entire cabin, which is also reflected in the numerous new entries. A strike is still avoidable: “We remain open to appropriate offers and fair solutions from the employer in order to possibly avert strikes at short notice.”

For the approximately 18,000 cabin employees at Lufthansa and the almost 1,000 employees at Cityline, UFO is essentially demanding 15 percent more money with a contract term of 18 months. The union also wants to achieve an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros and higher allowances. In the separate collective bargaining negotiations for the Lufthansa parent company and the regional subsidiary Cityline, the union rejected the respective offers as inadequate.

High profits expected

Against the background of high losses in purchasing power due to inflation, employees point to the sharp increase in profits that CEO Carsten Spohr wants to present on Thursday for the past 2023 financial year. This means that bonuses for management are likely to increase significantly.

The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO), founded in 1992, is a sectoral union that exclusively represents flight attendants, primarily at Condor and the Lufthansa Group. In individual flight operations, it competes closely with the DGB union ver.di, which also wants to organize the flying staff. Coordinated cooperation between the two hostile unions is unlikely.

Strikes in other areas

Regardless of the UFO strike vote, the ver.di union has called on employees in Lufthansa’s technology, logistics and training areas to go on a warning strike starting this evening at 8:00 p.m. All other members of the ground staff are expected to join the strike on Thursday at 4:00 a.m. The warning strike ends for all participants on Saturday at 7:10 a.m. In addition, the aviation security forces in Hamburg and Frankfurt are scheduled to go on strike on Thursday, so that no passengers will be able to board there that day.