Lufthansa ground staff demand substantial salary hikes ahead of talks

Ground staff for German airline Lufthansa are demanding substantial pay increases ahead of collective bargaining talks, reported dpa.

The trade union verdi, which represents around 25,000 Lufthansa ground staff including technicians and check-in counter workers, is demanding raises of at least 12.5% from the airline, according to lead labour negotiator Marvin Reschinsky on Monday.

Lower-paid workers would receive even bigger raises of at least €500 ($539) per month, and the union is also demanding one-time bonuses of €3,000. Other demands include moving newly hired workers more quickly up the union pay scale at Lufthansa.

The collective bargaining deal covers ground staff at Lufthansa, Germany's leading airline, as well as some other Lufthansa subsidiaries such as Lufthansa Cargo and aircraft maintenance firm Lufthansa Technik.

Negotiations between Lufthansa management and verdi are set to begin on January 18.

The flight attendants trade union UFO will also negotiate in parallel and is demanding 15% pay increases as well as one-time bonuses. Together, the two unions could largely paralyse Lufthansa operations if the negotiations lead to strikes.

After overcoming the coronavirus slump, trade union leaders believe that the airline's workforce has been thinned out and is under a heavy workload.

"Lufthansa is investing too little in staff despite record profits. This is another reason why we are still experiencing disrupted air traffic," Reschinsky said on Monday in Frankfurt. "Our demands are the least we can do if we want to put an end to the staff shortages and the chaos in air traffic."

Ground staff at Lufthansa are also demanding an end to long-standing pay differences between workers in the former East Germany and their colleagues in the former West Germany.

Currently, workers in the former East Germany must work about 2.5 hours longer each week to earn the same pay.