More strikes at Lufthansa

Pilots will ground Lufthansa after crew strikes succeed

The main labour union for Lufthansa's 4,200 pilots, has called a strike for Wednesday over demands for wage increases of up to 30%.

Pilots at Lufthansa, the air-freight arm Lufthansa Cargo and the charter airline Condor will stop work between 0630 CET (0430 GMT) and 0900 CET (0700 GMT) after eight weeks of pay talks failed last Thursday.

It is the second time that industrial action has hit the carrier in less than a week.

Warning strikes by ground and cabin crew last Friday pushed management into increasing a pay offer to 3.5% and offer a bonus over a 14-month period.

Pilot's demands

The dispute with pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit, could prove more difficult to resolve with a 30% wage demand after management decided to abolish the 13-months pay per year salary structure to cut personnel costs.

"Lufthansa pilots and co-pilots work on average more than their colleagues at other international airlines, but are paid less," said a union spokesman.

"We expect that Lufthansa's entire air traffic will be stopped."

The renewed threat of industrial action hit the price of Lufthansa shares with a loss of 2.8% to 20.79 euros in late afternoon trading, while the overall market was firmer.

Earlier this month Lufthansa reported a better than expected 44% increase in 2000 profits of 1.04bn euros ($948m, £678.7m).

Crew victory

On Monday, Germany's new super union ver.di won its first labour dispute, securing Lufthansa ground and cabin staff a pay rise and bonus.

The airline conceded to union demands and offered an extra 0.9% wage hike to 3.5% and a 1,600 Deutschmark (£510) bonus in a new 14-month contract after airline staff walked out last week.

Ground crew won concessions from Lufthansa after strike

The contract was the first negotiated by the new service union, ver.di, founded last week by five smaller unions in an effort to boost their bargaining power.

About 9,000 Lufthansa employees went on strike on Friday to press the union's pay demands, causing chaos at most major German airports.

The deal takes effect from 1 April for the carrier's 55,000 German-based employees.