Coincidence or the deliberate nerve of travelers? On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lufthansa cabin crew will stop work – at the same time as the train drivers. This is what you need to know about the UFO strike.
As soon as the warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff ended, the cabin union UFO called the rounds 19,000 flight attendants from the airline and Lufthansa Cityline for Tuesday and Wednesday to strike. The strikes are from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m All departures from Frankfurt on Tuesday and all departures from Munich on Wednesdayas UFO announced.
The flight attendants of the core company and the regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline had previously voted for the strike in separate ballots with more than 96 percent each.
So many passengers are affected
The Lufthansa Group criticized the union for unnecessarily carrying out the collective bargaining dispute on the backs of the passengers. With this strike, UFO is expected to affect around 100,000 passengers on the two days.
This is what Lufthansa offers
The group management is essentially offering its employees 6.0 percent more money for a term of 24 months as of August 2024 and 3.25 percent as of August 2025. In addition, an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros is to be paid in April 2024. For the Cityline, with a term of 30 months, there should be 5.0 percent more for March 2024, 3.0 percent more for March 2025 and 2.5 percent more for January 2026. In addition, the remaining inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros is paid out.
That’s what UFO demands
The union points out that the group has announced a net profit of almost 1.7 billion euros for 2023. “The cabin must now also be involved in this success and the concessions that were made during the Corona crisis must be adequately compensated,” said UFO boss Joachim Vázquez Bürger.
For Lufthansa’s approximately 18,000 cabin employees and the almost 1,000 Cityline employees, according to the union, UFO is essentially demanding 15 percent more money over a contract period of 18 months. The union also wants to achieve an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros and higher allowances.
The UFO did without this in the wake of the corona pandemic
In the post-Corona year of 2022, UFO was the only union in the Lufthansa Group to refrain from industrial action. In the collective bargaining agreement, the lower wage groups in particular were raised, while the inflation compensation bonus was postponed until the current collective bargaining round.
UFO and GDL go on strike at the same time – coincidence?
In addition to the cabin union, the train drivers’ union GDL has also called for industrial action. If you want to travel within Germany, you have to use your own car, long-distance buses, rental cars or ride-sharing companies. The employee representatives did not coordinate their strikes.
This is the UFO branch union
The Independent Flight Attendant Organization (UFO), founded in 1992, exclusively represents flight attendants primarily at Condor and the Lufthansa Group. In individual flight operations it competes with the DGB union Verdi, which also wants to organize the flying staff. Coordinated cooperation between the two unions is unlikely.
Source: Stern
