Striking Lufthansa employees on Wednesday demanded a pay rise and additional hiring at Europe’s leading airline group. The social movement has caused major traffic disruptions in Germany.
The participation in this 24-hour strike, which concerns ground staff, is “enormous”, told AFP Marvin Reschinsky, representative of the Verdi union at Frankfurt airport.
As a preventive measure, Lufthansa had canceled “almost all” of its flights for the day in Germany. More than 130,000 passengers on nearly a thousand flights departing from and arriving at the two main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich are concerned, the group said.
‘Lufthansa cut staff during the health crisis, despite being saved by taxpayers. And now, the staff is missing in every corner: it is no longer livable, ”lamented Mr. Reschinsky, 29 years old.
The services union, in full wage negotiations with the group’s management, is demanding increases of 9.5%. ‘After two rounds of negotiations, Lufthansa is not ready to put an acceptable offer on the table,’ lamented Mr. Reschinsky.
In two years of health crisis and travel restrictions, Lufthansa has suffered significant losses and cut more than 30,000 jobs. The group had received aid from the German state, which has since been reimbursed.
Long waits for passengers
Throughout the aviation sector in Europe, there is a lack of personnel both in airports and air traffic control and in companies.
“Verdi’s strike is totally unnecessary and totally exaggerated because it destroys the vacation dreams of more than 100,000 people,” Martin Leutke, a spokesman for the airline, said on Wednesday. Several thousand passengers were waiting in Frankfurt for alternative solutions for their flight, most of them keeping their calm.
“The strike is in principle good for people who work, because they are also people who want to earn money, but for passengers it is not easy,” admitted Adel Zayali, 56, when questioned. by AFPTV. His Wednesday flight to Tunis has been rescheduled for Thursday.
This social movement comes at the height of the travel season, when users have already been faced in recent weeks with long waits at airports and series cancellations of flights, due to lack of staff.
/ATS
