Lufthansa’s ground crew members staged a walkout at several major airports on Wednesday, adding to the strain in pay negotiations and adding to the suffering of passengers in the largest economy in Europe, which has already been impacted by strikes on public transport and railroads.
Starting at 4 a.m. and expected to last until 7:10 a.m. on Thursday, the national airline has said that about 100,000 passengers would be impacted by the industrial action.
Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt and Munich airports—where Lufthansa estimates that just 10%–20% of flights would operate—have been singled out by the Verdi union.
Verdi seeks a one-time payment of 3,000 euros to counteract inflation, as well as a salary increase of 12.5% for almost 25,000 workers, or at least 500 euros ($537.00) more each month over a 12-month period.
In recent weeks, there has been a countrywide wave of industrial action that has affected public transit, railroads, and air travel. This has hurt the economy and increased dissatisfaction with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s difficult three-way coalition.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
Follow us on:
