Lufthansa reaches long-term no-strike deal with cabin staff

FRANKFURT, Germany – German airline Lufthansa on Tuesday, July 5, unveiled the details of a wide-ranging deal on pay and working conditions for its cabin staff, including a no-strike agreement and job guarantees until 2021.

Bringing to an end a long and bitter industrial dispute that hit thousands of passengers, Lufthansa and the cabin crews’ union UFO said that both sides had accepted a “comprehensive agreement” drawn up during months of arbitration.

The talks had been mediated by Matthias Platzeck, the former Social Democrat president of the regional state of Brandenburg.

The deal covered issues ranging from pension rights, pay increases, a long-term no-strike agreement, and job guarantees until 2021, the two sides said in a joint statement.

Lufthansa’s personnel chief Bettina Volkens said that with Platzeck’s support, the airline and the union had “managed to reach a solution at the bargaining table out of the public eye.

“It was a struggle to reach an agreement in which it was necessary for both sides to make cutbacks from their original position. The current compromise demonstrates that the effort was worthwhile,” she said.

UFO’s chief negotiator Nicoley Baublies said Platzeck “managed very neatly to bring our diverging interests together in the best possible way: Lufthansa has achieved economic and political security without taking anything away from individual employees at any point.”

In November, cabin staff staged the longest walkout in Lufthansa’s history with a 7-day stoppage, during which 4,700 flights were scrapped and 550,000 passengers grounded.

The dispute erupted nearly two years ago when management sought to cut costs, saying the current retirement system was too expensive to maintain.

The union, however, wanted the status quo to remain.

UFO, which represents more than 13,000 flight attendants, agreed to arbitration talks in January.

Already in January, the two sides struck a deal for a 2.2% pay rise for Lufthansa flight attendants from January 2016, as well as a one-off payment of 3,000 euros ($3,300) for last year, the airline said.

The arbitration focused on early retirement provisions and working conditions.

At the end of November, Lufthansa reached a wage deal for its 30,000 ground staff.

Lufthansa, which also owns Swiss and Austrian Airlines, is battling to bring down costs in a bid to survive competition from low-cost rivals such as EasyJet and Ryanair.

It has also faced multiple strikes by its pilots. – Rappler.com