Germany: strike call Sunday at Lufthansa

Germany: strike call Sunday at Lufthansa

Monday, 14.10.2019

Lufthansa said it wants to "maintain the entire flight plan" on Sunday and considers as "illegal" strike calls from the UFO union. (Keystone)

The UFO cabin crew union at Lufthansa on Monday called for a five-hour strike Sunday, as its legitimacy to represent employees is challenged in court by the airline.

The cabin crew based in Frankfurt and Munich, Germany's two busiest airports, is scheduled to quit Sunday between 4am and 9am GMT, UFO union president Daniel Flohr said in an online video.

"Five companies in the group," Lufthansa, Eurowings, Germanwings, Cityline and Sunexpress, "will be affected by strikes in the coming weeks," he added.

Such "warning strikes", coordinated walkouts of a few hours, often accompany seasonal salary negotiations in Germany from the expiry of a branch agreement.

UFO is calling for a 1.8% wage increase.

Lufthansa however told AFP to want to "maintain the entire flight plan" on Sunday and considers as "illegal" calls for strike from UFO, whose group questioned its "ability to represent" employees and "status as a union".

A German court is expected to look into the issue next April, while UFO is "half dead" according to the German daily Tagesspiegel.

"A permanent conflict at the head of UFO" weighs on the union, which is "divided", lost members and whose "financial situation is difficult," says the newspaper Handelsblatt.

Lufthansa will "evaluate the options to challenge the strike in court," said a spokesman. (AWP)