GERMANY: Lufthansa's striking cabin crew union say they are ready to talk as the German carrier is forced to cancel 1,200 flights leaving an estimated 100,000 passengers stranded

Record ID: 340984

  • Title: GERMANY: Lufthansa's striking cabin crew union say they are ready to talk as the German carrier is forced to cancel 1,200 flights leaving an estimated 100,000 passengers stranded
  • Date: 7th September 2012
  • Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 7, 2012) (REUTERS) LUFTHANSA SPOKESPERSON KLAUS WALTHER ARRIVING FOR STATEMENT CLOSE OF CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (German) LUFTHANSA SPOKESPERSON KLAUS WALTHER, SAYING: "At midday we see that we can keep up the special flight plan here in Frankfurt, in Munich, Berlin, Duesseldorf to almost 100 percent. There is one exception in Hamburg, some flights
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Business,Employment,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAAFT5L3O7MZJKK8IP03J7M9F2Q
  • Story Text: Lufthansa's striking cabin crew continued their protest on Friday (September 7), saying they are ready to talk as the German carrier is forced to cancel 1,200 flights, leaving an estimated 100,000 passengers stranded.
    Staging protests in front of the airports in Frankfurt and Munich amongst others, cabin crew members made clear their frustration at the current Lufthansa management. "Now they claim that there are these cheap carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet and all that stuff and there is Emirates and Etihad and all these threats from the outside. But they are here for more than ten years now and our management missed to act in time and now they think the solution is to cut every cent they can get from us and this not the way," said cabin crew member Rene Gerandt.
    "When I started out, we were flying around 72 hours I think, now we fly up to 86 hours, it's just the flying time. It's the time the aircraft moves, the other time is not paid according to hours. So, what we do on ground, what we do in-between the flights on shorthaul is not paid and we think we should be paid more and we should be paid accordingly, because we are getting at a level, where we cannot afford anything anymore," cabin crew member Karoline Otto added. Nicoley Baublies, spokesperson of the union, asked his colleagues to give Lufthansa and the union some time "to find out how to get out and be able to look in each others eyes and work together in this company in the end."
    Lufthansa has made renewed contact with the cabin crew union, Lufthansa spokesperson Klaus Walther told reporters. "As we confirmed yesterday already, there were contacts with the UFO (cabin crew union), there were contacts today and we hope that these contacts will lead to reasonable talks and results," said Walther. He said Lufthansa managed to meet the special flight plan for the 24-hour strike at all German airports.
    Lufthansa is under pressure not to give in to UFO's demands for 5 percent pay increases and guarantees against outsourcing as it tries to sharply cut costs, as part of a plan to improve annual earnings by 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) by 2014.
    Friday marks the third day of strikes in the dispute, which has led to Lufthansa cancelling hundreds of flights at a cost of more than 10 million euros.
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