In the midst of a tense summer, Lufthansa negotiates to avoid new strikes
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Still no white smoke in Frankfurt. Lufthansa negotiators and airport ground staff representatives were to meet on Thursday, August 4, for a second day of discussions and try to reach an agreement on the salary increase of 20,000 people, employed directly by the services of the German airline (LH Technik, LH Logistik, etc.) or its subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo.
The Ver.di union is demanding a 9.5% salary increase and at least 350 euros more for salaries of less than 3,700 euros gross. The management is offering 150 euros per month now, an additional 100 euros in January 2023 and, in the event of a group profit, an additional 2% in one year. Another sticking point: the duration of this agreement – the employees would like to limit it to twelve months, to renegotiate if necessary in a year depending on inflation, while the company would like to seal it for eighteen month.
It is already the third time this summer that the two parties have attempted a rapprochement. On July 27, the unions organized a pressure coup which blocked more than a thousand flights. At boarding counters, maintenance, baggage handling, this 26-hour warning strike affected the holiday departures of 134,000 travellers. August and September are always the two most important months of the year for the company. The issue is important.
Request for “respect”
Wednesday morning, on the side of the employees, we therefore had the” hope “ of one “breakthrough” fast, in the words of Ver.di’s main negotiator, Christine Behle. Especially since the other companies that provide ground services at airports, whether competitors or subcontractors of Lufthansa such as Aviation Handling Services or Aviapartner, paved the way at the start of the week, signing with Ver. di an agreement for significant revaluations (between 17% and 26% in the next six months).
“Given how willing small companies have been to raise wages, it is all the more surprising that Lufthansa refuses to do so and thus disappoints its employees and passengers in the middle of the holiday period”, notes another Ver.di negotiator, Marvin Rechinsky. He demands more ” respect “ generally speaking. A slogan inscribed on the banners of the union, stretched in the lobby of the hotel where the negotiations are held, at Frankfurt airport.
Marvin Rechinsky insists on the extra work imposed on employees with the resumption of air traffic after the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector has had to downsize significantly since 2020. It is estimated that one in three jobs has been lost. Currently, according to a study by the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel, there is a shortage of 7,200 qualified employees at German airports. At the end of June, there was a one kilometer long queue in front of the security checks at Cologne-Bonn airport!
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