One of Lufthansa’s main unions announced on Monday a strike by the company’s ground employees on Wednesday, in the context of a wage dispute, warning of “delays and cancellations” in an already tense period for European aviation. .
In a statement released this Monday, the Verdi union says it has issued a strike notice for the period between 03:45 (01:45 GMT) on Wednesday and 06:00 on Thursday (04:00 GMT), “increase the pressure” on company managementdemanding wage increases of 9.5%.
Lufthansa, the main European air transport group, has not yet detailed the impact that the stoppage could have, at a time when passengers are already facing long waits at airports and cancellations of several flights, due to lack of personnel in the airport sector.
This summer, Lufthansa has already canceled around 6,000 flights and the main German airport, Frankfurt, plans to reduce its flight schedule to “stabilize air operations”, which are greatly affected by Christmas departures.
Wednesday’s strike at Lufthansa covers ground workers, namely maintenance, but also aircraft towing vehicle operators, essential to the smooth running of the airport.
“There will be many cancellations and delays,” anticipates the Verdi union.
According to union leader Christine Behle, “the situation at airports is deteriorating and staff are increasingly under pressure and overworked due to severe staffing shortages, high inflation, and no raises for three years.”
Since the lifting of health restrictions at the beginning of the year, airlines and airports have struggled to respond to the strong increase in demand, after two years of reduced traffic during which the sector lost many employees.
More than 7,000 employees are currently missing in the German aviation sector, according to a study by the economic institute IW published at the end of June.
“Many of these employees sought work in other fields” and “are now needed to respond to increased demand,” says the study.
Source: Observadora
