DThe Verdi union is demanding a 9.5 percent salary increase for the approximately 20,000 Lufthansa employees on the ground. There must be at least an increase in the monthly salary of 350 euros for a one-year term of the collective agreement, as the union announced on Wednesday. “After three years of wage cuts, the employees have been hit particularly hard by the high inflation rate. That is why it is now important to keep employees at Lufthansa with significant wage increases and to attract new employees with attractive salaries,” explained Christine Behle, deputy Verdi boss and vice-chair of the Lufthansa supervisory board. The first round of negotiations is scheduled for June 30 .
Lufthansa said it was willing to negotiate, but the amount and duration of the claim was difficult to understand given the company’s current situation. “The challenges of the group are not taken into account,” it said in a statement. The debts that increased during the corona crisis would have to be paid off. In addition, high kerosene prices and the war in Ukraine posed economic risks.
Verdi argued that the enormous workload of the employees also justified a significant wage increase. This could make it easier to find urgently needed additional staff. Behle described the situation of the Lufthansa ground staff as precarious. More than a third of the jobs were cut during the corona crisis. This work would have to be taken over by the remaining employees now that flight operations are ramping up quickly. With its drastic reduction in staff, Lufthansa itself has ensured that the ramp-up does not succeed properly. “The passengers pay the bill for this, but above all the employees, who are exposed to the annoyance of the passengers every day.”
In aviation, there is a huge crunch in the processes at the start of the main travel season, as almost everywhere there are not enough staff for a traffic volume like at peak times before the pandemic. Lufthansa primarily blames bottlenecks at airport service providers for this. In July alone, the airline canceled 900 flights as a precaution. Possible cancellations in August are currently being examined, said a Lufthansa spokesman.
