In the deadlocked collective bargaining dispute between Lufthansa ground staff, arbitration is expected to bring about a solution after five rounds without agreement. Both the Verdi union and Lufthansa are aiming for arbitration proceedings as quickly as possible, the company announced on Thursday. A duty of peace should apply during the mediation. A Verdi spokeswoman also confirmed the German press agency’s intention to mediate.
At the same time, preparations for a ballot should begin at the beginning or middle of next week, said Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky on Thursday evening in Frankfurt. “This means that forced strikes are also possible in a timely manner.” They don’t want any further escalation and no additional burdens for passengers. “We want passengers to get from A to B easily during the Easter holidays and for families to go on their well-deserved vacation.” That’s why Lufthansa is also being offered mediation. We want to achieve a result by Easter Saturday. The two arbitrators have yet to be named.
At the same time, no arbitration will take place that lasts several weeks or months. “The employees need a drink now,” said Reschinsky. During the two days of negotiations, the company did not make an improved offer. With regard to Lufthansa, the Verdi negotiator said: “It remains at its last negotiation status from the end of February.” If Lufthansa ultimately does not want the arbitration or rejects the result or no result is achieved, they are also prepared to go on a possible enforcement strike.
This can happen non-stop, “but also every now and then for several weeks. This makes Lufthansa an unsafe means of transport,” said Reschinsky. The union has “the impression that Lufthansa management is overwhelmed by this round of collective bargaining.” “And that’s why we also advocate that third parties take a look at this collective bargaining conflict,” said the Verdi negotiator.
The company said that during the round of negotiations on Wednesday and Thursday they were unable to agree on a new collective agreement for the approximately 20,000 employees of ground staff, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Cargo and other companies. According to a statement, Lufthansa Human Resources Director Michael Niggemann said that they had come closer to a solution, but that it had not yet been finalized. “Together we now want to clarify the open points with the help of mediation in order to then reach an agreement.”
Last week, hundreds of Lufthansa flights were canceled due to a warning strike by ground staff organized by Verdi. For passengers, however, an agreement in the ground staff’s collective bargaining dispute would only mean a small relief, as several collective bargaining disputes in German air traffic are still open.