“We don’t bluff,” says Marcel Gröls, collective bargaining officer of the pilots’ union “Vereinigung Cockpit”. After the Verdi strike at Lufthansa, the next labor dispute is imminent.
Frankfurt/Munich – It’s summer, the peak travel season for many vacationers. But before relaxing, some tourists can expect a real stress test. Because: at the airports there are sometimes chaotic conditions – and not only in Germany. The lack of staff makes it difficult to process passengers. Pieces of luggage sometimes only follow their owners towards the end of the planned vacation – if at all. There are also flight cancellations. Now the next travel chaos is already threatening.
Next travel trouble at the airport? Pilot strike threatened – “We don’t bluff”
Another strike is looming in the middle of the holiday season. Even before the Verdi negotiations in the coming week, the pilots’ union “Vereinigung Cockpit” (VC) wants to end its ballot among Lufthansa pilots on Sunday (July 31). With the approval of at least 70 percent of those entitled to vote, the VC would be ready to strike.
But that does not automatically mean another strike, VC collective bargaining board member Marcel Gröls made clear again on Thursday. “If the majority of pilots are in favor of it, that doesn’t mean that there will be a strike right away. But it’s a warning sign. And we don’t bluff,” he told Der Spiegel .
Airport chaos: after the Lufthansa strike on Wednesday – normal operations on Thursday
After the Verdi warning strike by ground staff on Wednesday (July 27), Lufthansa has only just returned to normal operations. More than 1000 flights have been cancelled. On Thursday (July 28), there were only a few short flights canceled. Almost all flights take place, said a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency. Longer queues of passengers formed at Frankfurt Airport at the security checks and no longer at the check-in counters.
At 6 a.m., Verdi had ended the warning strike that had begun on Wednesday morning as planned. According to Lufthansa, a total of 134,000 passengers were affected by the flight cancellations.
Travelers have these rights in the event of flight cancellations .
Verdi had called around 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff nationwide to a warning strike in order to build up pressure in the salary negotiations. In the coming week, the two parties want to negotiate again from Wednesday (3 August).
Summer vacation start: Busy days expected at airports
Expect busy days at airports. Baden-Württemberg started the summer holidays on Thursday (July 28), Bavaria will follow at the weekend. However, the Verdi union has ruled out further industrial action before the next round of negotiations next week.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing called on the union and Lufthansa to engage in “responsible and quick negotiations”. Air traffic already has “enough problems to deal with,” said the FDP politician to Bild . The conflict must be resolved within the framework of collective bargaining autonomy. “Both parties to the collective agreement should think of the travelers and not settle their dispute on their backs.” (ph / dpa)
