Luthansa Workers Demand more Money in tough economic times - Now on Strike

Lufthansa said Monday that a pay strike by ground and cabin staff had failed to disrupt German air traffic on its first day, but trade union Verdi said the emergency measures put in place were costing the airline dearly. 'There have been no cancellations or delays caused by the strike thus far,' Lufthansa spokesman Peter Schneckenleitner told national television shortly after midday, adding that 600 takeoffs had been cleared as planned by midday in the midst of the holiday season.

Verdi, Germany's second largest union with 2.2 million members, said 4,000 workers had joined the strike by midday, with more to follow from the late shifts. Verdi pay talks head Erhard Ott acknowledged that there had been little observable effect on flights. But measures put in place by the airline to ensure continued service were costing 'really a lot of money,' he claimed.

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The union targeted the main hub of Frankfurt and the northern city of Hamburg on the first day of an unlimited strike in support of demands for 9.8 per cent more pay for 50,000 ground and cabin staff. Pilots are not involved in the current strike. Ott said that main aim of the strike was not to target passengers, but to hurt the company financially by forcing it to take costly emergency measures to maintain services.

The union predicted Lufthansa would soon begin to feel the effects of the strike by aircraft maintenance workers. 'After a week, it will really start to hurt,' Hauke Brockmann, a Verdi official in Hamburg, said. Lufthansa communications chief Klaus Walther appealed to the union to return to talks.

Lufthansa's most recent offer was to a pay rise of 6.7 per cent over a 21-month contract, plus a one-off payment.

The strike coincides with increasing pressure on airlines facing high fuel bills as the world economy slows.