This can become tiresome for passengers travelling on Lufthansa and its subsidiaries in Germany. The Verdi union has called a warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff for just over a day on Tuesday 20 February..
This move should lead to a air transport paralysis even greater than a week ago. Because this time, all ground staff, from maintenance to passenger and aircraft handling, will stop work. The strike will officially begin at 4 a.m. on Tuesday and will end at 7.10 a.m. on Wednesday.. In addition to the two hubs of Frankfurt and Munich, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
This warning strike is taking place because negotiations stall because of the low pay rises offered. In fact, according to Verdi, 96% employees rejected management's offer.
The ground staff's discontent is fuelled by the huge gap between the pilots' remuneration and their own. According to Verdi, the group gives its pilots double-digit pay rises, with basic annual incomes of up to €270,000. In contrast, ground staff pay starts at €13 an hour. The latter should not even receive compensation for the price increases of recent years.
Verdi is therefore demanding an increase of 12.5% - with a minimum of an extra 500 euros per month. Plus a bonus of 3,000 euros to compensate for inflation. The next negotiations are scheduled for Wednesday. But lpassengers will probably have to expect further strikes…
