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German union threatens Lufthansa with strikes after Christmas

A German cabin crew union on Sunday threatened Lufthansa with fresh walkouts after Christmas as discussions to resolve a bitter dispute over pay and conditions failed to make progress.

Published: 23 December 2019 08:50 CET

German union threatens Lufthansa with strikes after Christmas

Could there be strikes after Christmas? Photo: DPA

Speaking after the latest round of arbitration talks, the UFO union said efforts to come up with a “credible and legally secure” resolution with the help of independent mediators had failed.

While there would be no walkouts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day, “we could now announce a strike at any time,” vice-chairman Daniel Flohr told reporters at Frankfurt airport.

Lufthansa flight attendants staged a massive 48-hour strike last month that led to 1,500 flight cancellations at German airports, affecting some 200,000 passengers.

As well as demanding higher wages, especially for entry-level jobs, the union is seeking better benefits and easier routes into long-term contracts.

Lufthansa for a long time refused to discuss the demands, claiming the union no longer rightfully represented staff after an internal leadership struggle. It even challenged UFO's legal status in court.

But Germany's flagship carrier changed its stance during November's stoppage, agreeing to arbitration with UFO leaders and two independent mediators.

READ MORE: Travel chaos in Germany as passengers hit by 48-hour Lufthansa strike

Lufthansa on Sunday said it continued to expect that through arbitration “good solutions can be found” for its 22,000 cabin crew employees.

The mediators have proposed fresh talks in early January, according to DPA news agency.

Neither side gave details about the discussions, but German media have reported that UFO is seeking guarantees that flight attendants won't face disciplinary action over the strikes.

Four of the Lufthansa group's smaller, subsidiary airlines have also walked out in the long-running battle for better wages.

A one-day warning strike in October led to several dozen flight cancellations at Eurowings, Germanwings, SunExpress and Lufthansa CityLine.

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German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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