Lufthansa and Eurowings pilots will go on strike on April 13 and 14
12 April 02:18
Pilots at Lufthansa, as well as its subsidiaries Lufthansa Cargo, CityLine, and Eurowings, will go on strike on April 13 and 14. The call for the strike was published on the website of the German pilots’ and flight engineers’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit, on Saturday, April 11, according to "Komersant Ukrainian", citing DW.
In particular, the strike will affect all Eurowings flights from German airports scheduled for April 13. However, due to the ongoing instability in the Middle East, pilots from Lufthansa and its cargo division, as well as CityLine, flying from Germany to Azerbaijan , Bahrain , Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, and Lebanon.
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union was forced to take this step after the employer failed to express a clear willingness to seek a resolution in several labor disputes. Despite a conscious decision to refrain from striking over Easter, no serious proposals were ever received. There was neither a response nor a clear willingness to negotiate on the part of management (Andreas Pinheiro).
The union was not satisfied with Lufthansa’s corporate pension plans
Union representatives explained the call for a strike by noting that Lufthansa or Lufthansa Cargo had not yet submitted proposals regarding corporate pension plans. A similar situation exists with CityLine’s proposals under the collective bargaining agreement with employees.
“Moreover, Eurowings’ proposal regarding corporate pension plans is unacceptable and so meager that it hardly deserves to be called a pension plan,” the VC noted.
Piener called the strike “a last resort, an attempt to salvage failed negotiations” and placed the blame for it on the employer. The VC also called on its members to participate in a rally organized by the UFO flight attendants’ union, which will take place on April 15 in front of the Lufthansa office at Frankfurt am Main Airport. On April 10, UFO held a strike that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Lufthansa criticized VC’s plans
Lufthansa representatives sharply criticized the VC’s call for a strike, calling the decision “an entirely new level of escalation.” The airline stated that the union’s main demand—to “double the company’s already excellent pension plan”—is “absurd and unfeasible.”
