Following strikes by pilots and cabin personnel at Lufthansa, the labor dispute enters its next phase. The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO) union called on Monday for a two-day strike on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The action will affect all departures by Deutsche Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich airports, as well as all departures by Lufthansa subsidiary Cityline from Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Hannover airports.
The cabin crew strike is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 12:01 AM, seamlessly following the pilot strike at Lufthansa called by the Cockpit pilots' union for Monday and Tuesday. With the announcement of the two-day strike, UFO aims to increase pressure on the airline according to its own statements.
"The strike on Friday was a clear signal," explained Harry Jaeger, Head of Collective Bargaining Policy and Chief Negotiator for UFO. "If the employer does not respond to this, the signal will inevitably become louder." The high strike participation on Friday "impressed us greatly, and it clearly demonstrates that the cabin crew will not be sold short." Jaeger accused the employers of "having settled into a hardliner position."
The UFO strike is set to end Thursday at 11:59 PM. The employees no longer want to "tolerate the employers' stance," declared Jaeger. "When existential fear consistently meets blockage, further escalation will be hard to avoid." A strike called by UFO on Friday had already led to numerous flight cancellations.
UFO wants to use the labor action to pressure negotiations for a new collective framework agreement at Lufthansa, demanding working time relief for the approximately 18,000 stewards and stewardesses. At Cityline, the issue concerns a social plan for the roughly 800 flight attendants, as the airline is scheduled to be discontinued next year.
In the simultaneous labor conflict with the Cockpit pilots' union, improvements to the pilots' company pension plan are at stake. Cockpit also criticizes Lufthansa's lack of willingness to negotiate. On Monday, hundreds of Lufthansa flights were canceled due to the pilot strike, and the strike is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.
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