Lufthansa arbitration with pilots fails; mediation aims to avert strikes
Arbitration between Lufthansa and pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit has ended without agreement. No new pilot strikes are expected for now as a confidential mediation continues.
Symbolic image · Photo: MarcelX42 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Arbitration in the pay dispute between Lufthansa and pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has ended without a result. The arbitrators, former state premiers Roland Koch and Bodo Ramelow, initially put forward no proposals of their own, according to both sides. The dispute centres on pensions and pay at several of the group's German flight operations.
The VC also wants a social plan for the group's Lufthansa Citylines unit. Behind the conflict is management's strategy of shifting aircraft and crews away from the high-cost core carrier to operations with lower pay scales.
A broader, confidential mediation process, which also covers strategic questions about the core airline's future, is continuing. As long as it runs, no new strikes are expected, dpa reported. If it fails, the parties can no longer fall back on the arbitration results. The VC has already called strikes on seven days this year.