Lufthansa Agrees To 4.7 Percent Raises For Ground Workers

May 2, 2013
A possible new round of strikes loomed as the pilots' union demanded the carrier respond to its own 4.6 percent wage raise proposals.

Lufthansa has agreed an inflation-busting pay settlement with a union representing 33,000 workers, ending a dispute which had threatened to drive travellers towards rival fliers.

While the German airline agreed yesterday to raise pay by up to 4.7% for cabin crew and ground staff, a possible new round of strikes loomed as pilots' union Cockpit demanded the carrier respond to its own 4.6% wage rise proposals by the middle of this month.

A strike called by the ver.di union grounded nearly 1,700 Lufthansa flights on April 22 - the second such industrial action in a month - after a company offer to lift pay by up to 1.2%, with no job guarantees, was rejected.

Passengers flying to and from Aberdeen had their travel plans thrown into disarray by cancelled flights between the north-east and Frankfurt.

Analysts estimate the strikes have cost the airline nearly £13million.

Lufthansa is in the middle of a restructuring programme to quadruple operating profits to £1.9billion by 2015 through job cuts, better purchasing and merging its European short-haul business with discount arm Germanwings.

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