Lufthansa pilots go on strike

Negotiations between Lufthansa and Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) reached a point of no return on Thursday, with the German pilots’ union calling a strike of all its members for tomorrow, Friday 2 September, which will affect Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures from airports in Germany.

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«Aware of our responsibility to the company and passengers, we wanted to leave no stone unturned and offered another negotiation date despite an inadequate offer and failed negotiations. We did not receive a sufficient offer today either. This is sobering and a missed opportunity,» said Matthias Baier, VC spokesperson.

Michael Niggemann, head of human resources at Lufthansa AG, said that «we cannot understand VC’s call for a strike. The management has made a very good and socially balanced offer – despite the continuing burdens of the Covid crisis and uncertain prospects for the global economy. This escalation comes at the expense of many thousands of customers».

Considering the airline’s schedule displayed on Cirium, Lufthansa has 697 scheduled departures from Germany this Friday, which could affect around 110,000 passengers.

Lufthansa has offered pilots an 18-month agreement that involves adding EUR 900 to their pay in two stages, which, the company stressed, would particularly benefit entry-level pilots and represents, in the case of a new co-pilot, into an 18% pay rise, while for a captain in the final stage it means a 5% increase.

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For VC this is insufficient, as they are asking for an increase of 5.5% by the end of this year as a first step, and automatic additional compensation above inflation from January 2023 (of up to 1% above the government’s reported rate), plus a new pay scale with a higher base and increases in vacation pay, training and sick days.

According to Lufthansa, meeting these demands would mean that the payroll for pilots would grow by 40% to 2.2 billion euros, which they consider unacceptable.

Marcel Gröls, the union’s negotiator, pointed out that the two positions are still far apart, and they expect Lufthansa to present a significantly improved offer that would provide a forward-looking solution across the board.