Ver.di has announced that 25.000 employees at Germany’s flag-carrier airline will hold a one-day strike on February 7, 2024. It is expected that around 90 percent of Lufthansa flights will be affected.

Ver.di confirms warning strike for Lufthansa ground staff

Lufthansa staff working at five airports across Germany will go out on strike on February 7, ver.di has announced. Airports in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich will be affected by the strike, which is scheduled to begin at 4am on February 7 and end at 7.10am on February 8. 

"Since all ground staff, from maintenance to passenger and aircraft handling, will be called to the strike, it will most likely lead to major cancellations and delays," ver.di said on Monday. The strike is expected to impact between 80 and 90 percent of flights run by Lufthansa.

This industrial action follows another strike on February 1, during which airport security staff at 11 German airports grounded hundreds of flights.

Lufthansa and ver.di continue negotiations

As with GDL members and Deutsche Bahn bosses, public transport staff and local transport associations, Lufthansa employees are also in the midst of negotiations with their employer.

Ver.di is demanding that its members who are employed by Lufthansa receive a 12,5 increase in pay for 12 months, as well as a one-off payment of 3.000 euros to balance the consequences of inflation.

Lufthansa bosses have called the action “incomprehensible”, but in a statement on Monday, ver.di representative Marvin Reschinsky said that the strike would be unnecessary “if Lufthansa were to grant ground staff the same increases as other groups of employees in the company”. 

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