In the collective bargaining dispute over Lufthansa ground staff, the Verdi union has called for a three-day warning strike in the technology sector starting on Wednesday. Employees and trainees from Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Aviation Training and Lufthansa Technical Training are among those involved in the nationwide strike, Verdi said on Tuesday evening. Employees of Lufthansa Technik Logistik and Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services would join the work stoppage at different times depending on the location. According to Verdi, passenger flights will not be affected by the strike this time. The extent of the work stoppage is therefore smaller and flight cancellations are not to be expected.
So far, Verdi has led two warning strikes lasting more than a day during the conflict, during which several hundred flights were canceled each time. Verdi recently rejected a new offer from Lufthansa as inadequate after two days of collective bargaining. Lufthansa submitted this following the recent wave of warning strikes by ground staff. “We have once again taken a big step towards Verdi and presented a new, even improved offer,” Human Resources Director Michael Niggemann recently announced. In detail, the first of two planned table increases of four percent would be brought forward from December 2024 to March of this year. In addition, the inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros should be paid out more quickly.
Verdi has now announced that the group has essentially only improved its offer in two areas: the zero months that still exist in the new offer have been reduced, and the sustainable salary increase has been improved by 0.5 percent. At the same time, Lufthansa extended the term of its offer again by three months to a total of 28 months. The union criticized the core demand of 12.5 percent set by Verdi, but at least 500 euros more per month, not being achieved in the new offer, which is more than twice as long as the demand. The already agreed fifth round of negotiations will take place on March 13th and 14th.