Image: (APA/AFP/CHRISTOF STACHE)
After three strikes, the airline said it agreed to higher pilot salaries – although not with the VC via a collective agreement, but with the works council via a works agreement. The new salaries correspond exactly to the demands of the VC, as both sides confirmed on Thursday.
- Read more: Flight cancellations due to strikes at Discover Airlines
The union wants to continue the industrial action, although its material demands initially appear to have been largely implemented. The portal “aero.de” first reported. The VC tariff commission explained that they were “shocked” by Discover’s actions. It is clear that the company prefers to negotiate with the works council and that the amount of the demand was not a decisive factor in the rejection of the desired collective agreement, according to a circular to the pilots. A works agreement does not achieve the legal quality and security of a collective agreement with the union. Future talks about salary increases would amount to “collective begging.”
The aim is to restrict the right to strike
The commission also warned colleagues about the “social partnership charter” sought by the Lufthansa Group. The aim is solely to restrict the existing right to strike with advance notice periods, fixed escalation levels, mandatory mediation, compulsory arbitration and limitation of possible demands. This will not be accepted.
However, a spokeswoman for the airline said that it is completely clear that a company agreement does not replace tariffing. “It remains our goal to conclude a collective agreement that puts the interests of our employees and our airline first. To this end, as agreed with the VC last week, we submitted our improved offer yesterday.”
The union is fighting for an initial collective agreement at the company, which was founded two and a half years ago and is intended to compete with holiday airline Condor, among others, with 24 aircraft. The pilots have already gone on strike twice and launched a five-hour warning strike.
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