Status: 04.08.2022 10:15 p.m
Lufthansa and the trade union ver.di have agreed on a wage increase for the airline’s around 20,000 ground workers. This was announced by Lufthansa. This means that further strikes are off the table for the time being.
Lufthansa’s approximately 20,000 ground employees can count on more money. The airline and the union ver.di agreed in the evening on a tariff increase. Noticeable salary increases had been agreed, which were disproportionately high for the lower salary groups, Lufthansa said.
After two years of waiver due to the Corona crisis, the agreement provides for a wage increase in three steps: The employees will initially receive a fixed amount of 200 euros per month retrospectively from July 1, 2022. From January 1, 2023 there will be another 2, 5 percent, but at least 125 euros more per month, and from July 1, 2023 another 2.5 percent. The term of the collective agreement is 18 months and ends on December 31, 2023. However, the result is subject to a member survey.
parties are satisfied
The deputy ver.di chairwoman and chief negotiator Christine Behle was satisfied: “This is a good result, because it includes inflation compensation and an additional real wage increase.” She also emphasized the fact that the increases are not result-oriented, as Lufthansa had originally planned, as particularly positive.
Michael Niggemann, HR Director at Lufthansa, said: “It was important to us to give disproportionate consideration to the lower and middle income groups.”
No more strikes
This means that further strikes by employees at check-in or when handling aircraft are off the table for the time being. A one-day strike had triggered more than 1,000 flight cancellations at the Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich in the past week. And that in the middle of the high season, which already demands a lot of patience from travelers due to disruptions to airport operations due to staff shortages in Europe.
The walkout cost Lufthansa around 35 million euros, as CFO Remco Steenbergen explained. In the event of non-agreement, ver.di negotiator Behle had already threatened further industrial action during peak travel times.
The group expects a healthy profit
In addition, it became known that Lufthansa is apparently returning to profitability despite ongoing problems. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr announced the first annual operating profit since the outbreak of the Corona crisis. The group, which was rescued by the state during the pandemic, expects a profit (adjusted EBIT) of more than half a billion euros for the current year. For 2021, Lufthansa had reported a loss of more than 2.3 billion euros in this key figure.