Lufthansa staff to go on strike after wage talks break down

PanARMENIAN.Net - Cabin staff at German airline Lufthansa are to go on strike, possibly as early as Thursday, Aug 30, after wage talks broke down this week, BBC News reported.

"We'll strike tomorrow at the earliest," said the head of the UFO labour union, Nicoley Baublies. The union and the airline have been at loggerheads over the past year over the amount of hours worked at its hubs and low-cost airlines.

Loss-making Lufthansa has said it will cut 3,500 jobs.

Lufthansa shares fell 1.8% in Wednesday morning trading in Frankfurt, making the firm the biggest decliner in the benchmark Dax index.

The union is seeking a pay increase of 5% for cabin staff for 15 months starting from January this year, after three years of no increases.

Lufthansa's latest offer was for a pay increase of about 3.5%.

Baublies also said that the airline had not assured that its staff would not be transferred to a cheaper contract if they move to a low-cost airline in the airline group.

In April, Lufthansa completed the sale of loss-making UK airline BMI to IAG, the company that owns British Airways and Iberia.