Lufthansa pilots to resume strike after pay talks break down
Pilots at Lufthansa are set to resume their strike this week after hastily arranged talks with the airline failed to make any progress towards resolving an increasingly bitter industrial dispute. The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union said late Sunday that short-haul pilots would strike all day Tuesday and that both short- and long-haul pilots would walk out Wednesday. Flights departing from Germany would be affected. Jörg Handwerg, from Vereinigung Cockpit, said that the strike, which ran for four days last week before being broken off, was being resumed because Lufthansa had not made an offer “which could form the basis of negotiations”. Lufthansa said that it was “very disappointed” that the union had decided to launch further strikes. “The union is sticking with demands that go far beyond what other groups have demanded. That is not acceptable,” the airline said. Lufthansa pilots initially went on strike Wednesday for 24 hours, in what was their first walkout this year but their 14th since 2014. They subsequently prolonged the strike three times, before saying that they would not strike Sunday. In an effort to break the deadlock, the airline offered pilots on Friday a pay rise of 4.4% in two phases this year and next, and a one-off payment worth 1.8 months’ salary. As part of the deal, Lufthansa also wanted pilots to switch from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension plan. Vereinigung Cockpit swiftly rejected the offer as “old wine in new bottles”, pointing out that the airline had made a similar offer two months earlier. It reiterated it would not accept any deal in which salary increases were cancelled out by savings elsewhere. As a result of the industrial action, Lufthansa was forced to cancel almost 2,800 flights, or almost a quarter of its schedule over the four-day period last week, disrupting the travel plans of about 350,000 passengers. The union is demanding a pay increase of 3.7% a year backdated to 2012, when the previous wage agreement ended, which equates to an overall increase of almost 20%. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2016-11-28/star/lufthansa-pilots-to-resume-strike-after-pay-talks-break-down
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Lufthansa pilots to resume strike after pay talks break down
Pilots at Lufthansa are set to resume their strike this week after hastily arranged talks with the airline failed to make any progress towards resolving an increasingly bitter industrial dispute. The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union said late Sunday that short-haul pilots would strike all day Tuesday and that both short- and long-haul pilots would walk out Wednesday. Flights departing from Germany would be affected. Jörg Handwerg, from Vereinigung Cockpit, said that the strike, which ran for four days last week before being broken off, was being resumed because Lufthansa had not made an offer “which could form the basis of negotiations”. Lufthansa said that it was “very disappointed” that the union had decided to launch further strikes. “The union is sticking with demands that go far beyond what other groups have demanded. That is not acceptable,” the airline said. Lufthansa pilots initially went on strike Wednesday for 24 hours, in what was their first walkout this year but their 14th since 2014. They subsequently prolonged the strike three times, before saying that they would not strike Sunday. In an effort to break the deadlock, the airline offered pilots on Friday a pay rise of 4.4% in two phases this year and next, and a one-off payment worth 1.8 months’ salary. As part of the deal, Lufthansa also wanted pilots to switch from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension plan. Vereinigung Cockpit swiftly rejected the offer as “old wine in new bottles”, pointing out that the airline had made a similar offer two months earlier. It reiterated it would not accept any deal in which salary increases were cancelled out by savings elsewhere. As a result of the industrial action, Lufthansa was forced to cancel almost 2,800 flights, or almost a quarter of its schedule over the four-day period last week, disrupting the travel plans of about 350,000 passengers. The union is demanding a pay increase of 3.7% a year backdated to 2012, when the previous wage agreement ended, which equates to an overall increase of almost 20%. <br/>
