Lufthansa pilots during earlier strike in March
Lufthansa’s pilots, who already called one strike this year, in March, are now threatening to strike again over failure to reach a contract agreement. The strike has not been scheduled, and could happen at any time.
Lufthansa and the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (Cockpit Union) accuse each other of holding up the talks. The union proposed a plan to reduce costs by €500 million, calling it “an alliance for growth and employment,” but says that Lufthansa isn’t working to find a mutual solution; Lufthansa says it hasn’t ignored the proposal and will discuss it when negotiations start—but there’s no schedule for that.
The most serious issues at stake are pay and retirement conditions for pilots, especially those who work for the airline’s lower-cost subsidiaries such as Germanwings. Another issue is that Lufthansa has attempted to register aircraft and crews in other countries to avoid paying the levels of salaries, benefits and pension contributions required in Germany.
