Storm brewing
March 24, 2010
One month after Lufthansa flights were disrupted by a short-lived pilots' strike, the pilots' union Cockpit is planning a new four-day strike. This time, however, the airline is facing more pressure as negotiations with the UFO cabin crew union head towards an impasse.
Prior to entering a second round of negotiations with Lufthansa on Wednesday, UFO representative Joachim Muller said that he doubted a strike could be avoided.
"Personally I'm pessimistic because Lufthansa doesn't want to give us anything and instead has demands of its own," he said.
Lufthansa wants to increase the hours cabin crews work before their overtime pay starts, alter the structure of their pay raises, and link portions of their income to profit levels.
"Primarily it's about matters of course such as rights to take breaks, a 40-hour work week, fair working hours, and pay and distribution of labor," Muller said.
UFO may coordinate its efforts with Cockpit, which is planning to strike from April 13 to 16. The two unions will hold a joint meeting April 12 in Frankfurt.
"We haven't spoken about it specifically yet, but it can't be ruled out. If it makes sense, then we'll do so," Muller said.
Lufthansa struggling financially
Lufthansa lost 112 million euros ($151 million) in 2009 and intends to reduce its cost by 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by 2011. The airline's pilots want job security guarantees and fear Lufthansa will expand its foreign subsidiaries in order to rely more heavily on pilots from outside Germany, who earn less.
Lufthansa announced Monday it offered the pilots an employment guarantee through 2012 if they would accept a pay freeze this year along with an increased demand for productivity.
Lufthansa spokeswoman Stefanie Stotz said members of the company's board recently addressed groups of hundreds of pilots in Frankfurt and Munich.
"Naturally there is a necessity that we come to a solution. We're still sitting at the negotiation table waiting for (Cockpit) to return because the conflicts which are being discussed can be resolved through negotiation," she said.
Foreign subsidiaries vital
Stotz denied Lufthansa's expansion of foreign subsidiaries would cause German pilots to lose their jobs. In an example to the contrary, she pointed out that cockpit jobs at Lufthansa had increased 18 percent since 2001, even though the company acquired the airline Swiss in 2005.
"Not only did Swiss grow, but Lufthansa also grew. It has nothing to do with the displacement of jobs," she said.
Cockpit union spokesman Jorg Handwerg said the pilots aren't against Lufthansa's strategy of acquiring and expanding foreign subsidiaries, but they want the company to be loyal to them.
"We have worked for years to drive competitors out of our markets, and shortly before these ailing companies leave, Lufthansa buys them up with the money we've contributed to earning," he said.
While a joint strike between Cockpit and UFO has yet to be discussed, Handwerg said the two unions share common interests.
"We need some degree of security that it's not just hardball with economic data," he said.
"We're worth the money we're paid. A newly hired cabin crew member earns about the same as a person working in a cafe, but is doing a much more demanding job. So we have a lot of sympathy for our cabin crews, and they understand very well the situation we're in."
Author: Gerhard Schneibel
Editor: Sam Edmonds