GERMANY: German carrier Lufthansa expresses willingness to resume talks with the "UFO" union representing its cabin crews on strike, offering a 3.5 percent pay increase

Record ID: 340944

  • Title: GERMANY: German carrier Lufthansa expresses willingness to resume talks with the "UFO" union representing its cabin crews on strike, offering a 3.5 percent pay increase
  • Date: 31st August 2012
  • Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AUGUST 31, 2012) (REUTERS) HIGH SHOT OF PASSENGERS IN DEPARTURES TERMINAL AT FRANKFURT AIRPORT PASSENGERS NEAR COUNTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) LUFTHANSA SPOKESMAN, KLAUS WALTHER, SAYING: "We offered to the UFO union to resume talks at any time. The door is wide open. We offered 3.5 percent more salary. On top of that, operational layoffs and additional c
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Economy
  • Reuters ID: LVA5WKCK82LVLB98PN78IKPEJZ8R
  • Story Text: Lufthansa is willing to resume talks with the union representing its striking cabin staff, a spokesman said in Frankfurt on Friday (August) where a quarter of flights had to be cancelled.

    "The door is wide open," Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walther told reporters.

    "We offered 3.5 percent more salary... What we expect from the cabin crew is about two more hours of work per month which we believe during the current times is something that can be done in order to save jobs at Lufthansa, also in the future," said Walther.
    Earlier on Friday, the "UFO" cabin crew union began an eight-hour industrial action, following the breakdown of 13 months of negotiations between them and Germany's largest airline.
    The stoppages were focused in Frankfurt, Germany's largest airport, but are expected to have an impact on the airline's global network.
    Lufthansa said a quarter of flights scheduled on Friday in Frankfurt were cancelled, mostly bound for cities in Germany, and it would try to place passengers on alternative flights.
    It said the strike, which could cost Lufthansa millions of euros for each day of action, affects mainly short and medium flights, but some long-haul ones were also hit.

    "The union said the strike would end at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT). We believe and we hope that we will be able to take all passengers who planned a trip today to their destination," said Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walther.
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