Strike hits Lufthansa at major German airports

Workers at Lufthansa, the largest airline in Germany, went out on indefinite strike on Monday, during the peak of the holiday travel season, demanding a greater increase in pay than the carrier has been willing to meet.

Approximately 5000 catering, freight and maintenance employees stopped work at midnight Sunday after the membership of the Verdi union voted overwhelmingly to strike late last week.

Lufthansa officials said that flights had not been seriously impacted in the early hours of the strike, which hit the Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich airports.

“Lufthansa is still counting on regular flight operations and will inform on www.lufthansa.com should irregularities occur,” commented the airline officials in a prepared statement. “Lufthansa has taken measures to minimise the impact on its passengers.”

The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said on Friday that it was prepared to handle any additional demand resulting from the strike.

The union, however, said that passengers were sure to feel the effects of the labour action.

Erhard Ott of the Verdi union said in a statement to the Financial Times Deutschland: “We want to begin by concentrating on technical services such as aircraft maintenance, and after that other parts of the company will be drawn in.”

The union is asking for a 9.8 per cent pay increase over a one year period for approximately 50,000 workers. Lufthansa is offering 6.7 per cent over a 21 month period.

Verdi has been quoted as saying that the strike will cost Lufthansa five million euros daily.

www.lufthansa.com