Trade union Verdi has called on Lufthansa ground staff based in Germany to strike on Thursday and Friday (7 and 8 March) due to ongoing wage negotiations which have fallen through multiple times.
The strike will commence at 04:00 on Thursday and continue until 07:10 on Saturday. Hundreds of passenger flight cancellations are expected.
Lufthansa's ground crew has mobilised frequently in recent months. A strike on 20 February led to 100,000 passengers being affected by cancellations, while a picket line last week did not affect travelers' plans.
Verdi is demanding a 12.5% pay rise for around 25,000 staff members, which would equate to an increase of at least €500 per month each. They have also asked for an inflation premium.
The union regrets the negative impact on passengers. "In the past few days, we have deliberately omitted passenger traffic with our strikes," chief negotiator Marvin Reschinsky stated in a press release. "However, by ignoring our request to negotiate, Lufthansa is telling us that it will only move when the pressure increases further."
'Struggling to make ends meet'
The union says concessions already made by Lufthansa are insufficient, and criticises management's lack of willingness to provide something more substantial amid repeated calls for strikes.
"No one can understand why the Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, will announce record annual figures this week. Meanwhile, their ground staff are struggling to make ends meet in Germany's most expensive cities," said Reschinsky. Lufthansa will disclose its annual figures on Thursday.
Four rounds of negotiations have failed to reconcile the two parties, who will sit down together again on 13 and 14 March. Verdi has stated they are only willing to meet earlier if management provides a new offer, something that Lufthansa says it is not prepared to do.
The strike is not expected to extend to countries outside of Germany, and the airports likely to be affected are Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf.
