A pay strike by ground crew and cabin staff at Deutsche Lufthansa is expected to cause disruption at two international airports in Germany on Monday after a key union voted overwhelmingly to walk off the job.
The Verdi union, which represents 52,000 air industry workers, plans to start striking at midnight - focusing initially on the country's largest airport in Frankfurt and the north German hub of Hamburg.
Union officials said the unlimited strike, the first in 13 years at Lufthansa, would affect all support areas - from catering and cargo to maintenance and repair staff. Some 91 per cent of union members voted to strike, Verdi said on Friday.
"Our strike is not aimed at passengers - our goal is to put financial pressure on the company," said Verdi spokesman Harald Reutter today in comments aimed at defusing public anger. "It's up to Lufthansa to decide how many flights are cancelled."
Earlier Verdi had been vague about where the strikes would start. The union plans walkouts at Germany's 10 largest airports - Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Hanover, Leipzig and Bremen.
Verdi, which has lost influence since the last Lufthansa strike in 1994, wants a 9.8 per cent pay rise for one year. Lufthansa, Europe's second biggest airline by passenger numbers, is offering 6.7 per cent over 21 months and a one-off payment.
Lufthansa has said it will have to see where the strikes happen before deciding how many domestic and international flights to cancel. It has said it hopes to juggle non-striking staff to limit the impact of the strike.
"We'll have to wait and see," a Lufthansa spokeswoman said today. "The top priority is to try to limit the impact to as few passengers as possible."
Reuters