Lufthansa ground staff went on strike, more than 100,000 passengers affected

More than 100,000 passengers were affected as the ground service employees of the airline Lufthansa went on strike across Germany.
Ground service employees of Lufthansa, Germany’s largest airline, went on strike across Germany. Ground service employees at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, and Stuttgart airports stopped working around 04:00 local time upon the request of the United Services Union (Ver. di). Due to the strike, the airline was only able to operate 20% of its flights, and more than 100,000 passengers were affected nationwide. Passengers with flights were advised to come to the airport, and warnings were issued about possible flight cancellations due to the strike. At Berlin Airport, check-in counters remained empty due to flight delays. Some Lufthansa ground service employees at Berlin Airport continued their duties to inform passengers.

2 out of 7 flights were operated in Cologne
At Cologne-Bonn Airport, Lufthansa’s counters were closed, and it was reported that only 2 out of 7 flights were operated. Company employees asked passengers with flights to check their flights before coming to the airport. The strike, which the Lufthansa ground service employees carried out for the second time within a month with a two-week interval, will end tomorrow around 07:10.

Union demands
The union is conducting collective bargaining for approximately 25,000 members working in the airline to “improve their salaries.” Last week, Lufthansa offered a 10% salary increase for the next 12 months, but the union demands a 12.5% increase for ground service employees, with a minimum of 500 euros for at least 25,000 Lufthansa employees. The next round of collective bargaining negotiations will continue on Wednesday, February 21.