Lufthansa aims to avoid indefinite strikes during the Easter holidays through arbitration. But even an agreement for ground staff would not provide final security.
The arbitrators have had their say since Monday in the deadlocked wage dispute involving Lufthansa ground staff. Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke) and the former head of the Federal Employment Agency, Frank-Jürgen Weise, met in the morning with representatives of the company and the Verdi union in a hotel at Frankfurt Airport. A public launch was deliberately avoided, as Lufthansa confirmed. Strikes are not permitted during the arbitration, which is due to end on Maundy Thursday at the latest.
Both sides have agreed to maintain strict secrecy about any incidents. Under great time pressure, those involved are trying to avoid indefinite strikes over the Easter holidays. According to the current schedule, the actual arbitration negotiations should run up to and including Wednesday, before the collective bargaining committee of the Verdi union meets on Thursday and decides on how to proceed. The company will also evaluate the expected arbitration proposals. Details are expected at this point at the earliest.
Verdi is demanding 12.5 percent more money for the approximately 25,000 Lufthansa ground services employees for a term of one year, while the company has offered 10 percent for a term of 28 months. Verdi has already organized five rounds of warning strikes among ground staff, as a result of which hundreds of flights have been canceled. There have also recently been industrial disputes among the aviation security forces at the airports, which were also organized by Verdi, and among the Lufthansa flight attendants, who are represented by the UFO branch union.
If no compromise can be found in the arbitration, Verdi will threaten the ground staff with an indefinite strike. The ballot for this has already begun and will run until Wednesday. The arbitrator appointed by the union, Ramelow, visited a Verdi polling station on the eve of the kick-off, as can be seen from a social media video. The employees shouted “Ready for – more money!” in reference to an aviation slogan.
Source: Stern
