After the strike is before the strike: The Verdi union has again called on Lufthansa ground staff to strike from Tuesday morning at 4 a.m. to Wednesday at 7:10 a.m. According to the Kranichlinie, around 100,000 passengers at seven German airports are affected. The strike will also have a massive impact in Munich. According to a Lufthansa spokeswoman, the airline was still working on an emergency flight plan on Monday. Only around ten to 20 percent of the planned flights will take off. The spokeswoman was unable to quantify exactly how many there were in Munich. During the most recent strike at the beginning of February, more than 300 flights in Munich had to be canceled. There were around 900 nationwide.
Affected passengers will be notified via SMS or email provided they provided their contact details when booking. For canceled flights, Lufthansa offers free rebookings or refunds the ticket. Rebooking options are available via lufthansa.com, the customer app and the service center. Anyone who has booked a domestic flight can also convert the ticket into a rail voucher on the Lufthansa homepage.
According to the spokeswoman, Lufthansa subsidiaries are not affected by the strike. The airline is asking passengers whose flights have been canceled not to come to the airport at all. The rebooking counters will not be staffed either.
Why there is another round of strikes: The Verdi union is demanding 12.5 percent more salary, but at least 500 euros per month for a period of twelve months. There will also be a group-wide uniform inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros. Lufthansa’s offer provides for a salary increase of around ten percent in twelve months as well as a “timely payment” of tax-free inflation compensation bonuses totaling 3,000 euros.
Verdi said 96 percent of employees rejected Lufthansa’s latest offer. They criticized the fact that, among other things, the significantly lower increases for ground workers compared to other professional groups in the group and the length of the term were still open questions. The group is also not yet prepared to give employees back part of their lost income from the corona pandemic in times of record profits.