Lufthansa strikes: everything you need to know ahead of the mass walkouts across Germany

The latest industrial action could put a spanner in the works for lots of travellers
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Hundreds of thousands of Lufthansa passengers are set to be affected by upcoming walkouts following disputes over wage negotiations.

The German-based United Services Union (Ver.di) is urging Lufthansa ground workers at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart airports to strike for more than 24 hours.

If last minute negotiations fail, ground staff in some of Germany’s largest airports will officially strike from 4am on Tuesday 20 February, returning at 7.10am on Wednesday 21 February. According to the statement issued by Ver.di, cargo and technology areas may be affected at different times, but this will not affect commercial passengers directly.

The industrial action involves approximately 25,000 ground employees at Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services, Lufthansa Engineering and Operational Services and other group companies. It follows a breakdown in talks regarding group-wide collective wages.

96 per cent of employees rejected the latest offer, which failed to remunerate staff for income lost during the pandemic.

Ver.di negotiator Marvin Reschinsky said of the current offer, “The ground workers feel offended once again. While the group gives its pilots on annual basic incomes of up to 270,000 euros high double-digit pay increases, the ground workers with starting hourly wages of sometimes 13 euros are not even expected to compensate for the price increases of the last few years. This is blatantly anti-social.

“We do not want this escalation. We want a quick result for employees and passengers. Management should have come to their senses after the last strike at the latest. But Lufthansa was not prepared to negotiate more than their only offer during the negotiations that lasted late into the night. The company, therefore, bears responsibility for the further escalation of the conflict.”

An update issued by the airline states, “Passengers who are affected by flight cancellations because of the Ver.di strike will be informed by email or via the Lufthansa app. We regret the inconvenience for our guests. Please only come to the airport if your flight has not been cancelled. Due to the strike, the rebooking counters are unfortunately not staffed.”