Following a walk-out yesterday Lufthansa cabin crew, represented by the UFO union, have declared that they will strike throughout Germany on Friday for a full 24 hours.
Yesterday, only Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin airports were affected but even Lufthansa cancelled hundreds of flights. The forthcoming 24-hour strike will cause much more disruption to the German airline unless it heeds a call from union leader Nicoley Baublies to start mediation process to call off the strikes.
However Lufthansa has repeated its earlier statement that it saw no reason for mediation, claiming that the existing “offer already made is reason enough to return to the negotiating table".
Lufthansa’s subsidiary carrier Austrian Airlines will be unaffected by the strikes because its staff are on separate contracts. Nevertheless, Austrian will use larger aircraft on routes to Germany to help out Lufthansa.
UFO is demanding a 5% increase in pay and guarantees against outsourcing and the use of temporary workers. Lufthansa has offered a pay increase of 3.5 percent in exchange for longer hours. However talks between the two parties broke down last week with both sides refusing to budge.
More strikes are planned, with UFO threatening to strike into the autumn or winter.
Lufthansa cabin to strike again on Friday
