Ground staffs at Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline are staging a several-hour strike that has prompted the company to cancel hundreds of flights.
The ver.di union called workers at several airports including Frankfurt and Munich out on a so-called warning strike ahead of wage negotiations. The walkouts started Thursday at 4 a.m. (0300 GMT; 11 p.m. Wednesday EDT) and are to continue until late morning.
Ahead of the strikes, Lufthansa cancelled nearly 700 flights including much of the morning’s domestic and European flight schedule.
The union and Lufthansa are to meet Friday to discuss ver.di’s demand for a 5.2 percent increase over the next year for 33,000 Lufthansa employees. Ver.di says Lufthansa’s call for a two-year pay freeze until January 2015 and the extension of the work week by an hour is unacceptable.
Keywords: Germany, Lufthansa, Ground staff, Strike
The strike of the Ground staffs at Lufthansa in Frankfurt is very embarrassing because two friends of mine are now at the Airport of Frankfurt and cannot fly back to their European destination. They called me on Skype and I learned about the strike. This should not happen.
Verdi´s demand for a 5.2 percent increase over the next year for 33,000 employes is unacceptable because of the economic crisis.
Innocent passengers at the Airport of Frankfurt are the victims of the strike.
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