German flag carrier Lufthansa says it will be forced to cancel up to 90% of scheduled flights on Tuesday due to yet another ‘warning strike’ by ground workers represented by the United Services Union or Verdi.
This is a longer warning strike than previous walkouts, with ground workers expected to down tools for 35 hours beginning at 8 pm on Monday night and continuing through to 7:10 am on Wednesday morning.
During that time, Lufthansa currently estimates that it will only be able to operate between 10 and 20% of scheduled flights. The airline is offering free rebooking and is allowing domestic flights to be exchanged for high-speed rail travel.
The walkout will hit seven major German airports, including Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart, as well as Lufthansa’s two main hubs at Frankfurt/Main and Munich.
All of Lufthansa’s ground workers, from baggage handlers, engineers, tug drivers and passenger service agents, will be involved in the strike action.
Around 96% of ground workers recently rejected a widely derided payoff from Lufthansa, but the airline has been unwilling to make a new offer since workers staged an initial warning strike earlier this month.
Verdi spokesperson Marvin Reschinsky described Lufthansa’s attitude as ‘anti-social’ but claimed the union was trying to avoid strike action.
“We do not want this escalation. We want a quick result for employees and passengers,” Reschinsky commented.
As well as strike action at its mainline Lufthansa brand, the German flag carrier is also dealing with pilot and cabin crew walkouts at its Discover subsidiary. The mainline flight attendants’ union has also warned of potential strike action unless the airline drastically improves its pay offer.
