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Lufthansa, the major German airline, announced the cancellations of over 1,000 flights last week after ground teams went on strike over salaries and a Sunday vote by pilots could mean the carrier is going to be facing additional headaches.
Ver.di, the German labor union that represents about 20,000 employees at the airline, wants a 9.5 percent pay increase to keep up with soaring inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported. These workers also claim that they face more tasks than usual due to staffing shortages.
Vereinigung Cockpit, the German pilot union, held a vote Sunday that called for an industrial action move that could pave the way for a pilot strike. Pilots voted 97.6 percent in favor of the move that calls for 5.5 percent salary increases. They also want an automatic inflation compensation going forward.
Lufthansa said it respected the result of the vote and is looking for a constructive solution with its 5,500 pilots. The German carrier criticized Ver.di of acting hastily by calling for the strike last week “after two days of negotiations.”
The airline canceled flights in Frankfurt and in Munich, impacting 134,000 passengers.
“Ver.di has announced a strike that can hardly be called a warning strike due to its breadth across all locations and its duration,” Michael Niggemann, member of the Executive Board Chief Officer Human Resources Deutsche Lufthansa, told SimpleFlying.com. “This is all the more incomprehensible given that the employer side has offered high and socially balanced pay increases—despite the continuing tense economic situation for Lufthansa following the Covid crisis, high debt burdens and uncertain prospects for the global economy.”
If negotiations fail, a possible pilot strike could occur just in time for the holiday season.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has long reported that the COVID War brought on days of reckoning for governments and private companies around the globe when it comes to workers’ rights. The trend shows no signs of slowing as the world faces surging energy prices and soaring inflation. Strikes have impacted scores of industries. (See “TOP 2022 TREND: UNIONIZATION ON THE RISE.”)
We also reported on how airlines were met with uncertainty when the COVID War was launched in 2020 and tens of thousands of jobs were cut. Some employees also refused mandatory vaccinations to keep their jobs. (See “SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: “NO JABS, NO JOB…NO FLIGHT” and “UNITED AIRLINES TO ALLOW UNVACCINATED WORKERS TO RETURN TO WORK.”)
TREND FORECAST: The travel industry still faces headwinds despite showing promise with customer demand and, in the case of these Lufthansa employees, they want to be compensated for the sacrifice they made during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Christine Behle, a Ver.di official, said Lufthansa cut more than a third of its staff during the outset of the coronavirus and she said stresses are “extremely high” for those workers still there and many are considering leaving the profession, WSWS.org reported. Behle said these workers are even more vulnerable to inflation because they had “three years of wages sacrifice to stabilize the company during the pandemic.”
The report, citing the ADV airport association, found that 2.3 million jobs have been cut in the aviation industry since the start of the virus and about 20 percent have not been filled in Germany alone.
Strikes are not limited to Germany. Ryanair has also faced strikes by cabin crew unions over pay. Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) and Sitcpla, have called for a walk out that will last five months until January 2023, Euronews.com reported.