Lufthansa: Why the rate of conflict is almost unsolvable – business week

Ruediger Kiani-Kress

The new offer of the Lufthansa pilot Union Vereinigung Cockpit facilitates a solution to the conflict. But the causes lie deeper, in the tense relationship between the Union and the company, as well as in how both are organized.

The Stress of the past days was Lufthansa’s personnel Chief Bettina Volkens significantly noted, as she turned yesterday afternoon in a public video message to their pilots. “We don’t know, it’s a matter of remuneration”, and promoted the Manager to have understanding of the most important employees of your company, the for today, Saturday the 17. Pilot strike for a good two years have been announced.

However, even if the Initiative to stop the current wave of strikes: the conflict between Lufthansa and its pilots it is hard to solve. Sure, the new offering of 4.4 percent salary increase and 1.8 months of salary is generous. It summed up for each of the pilots to be between 3,000 and 10,000 euros in the year as well as once around 10.000 and 30.000 Euro. The whole course in addition to the average between 1800 and good 6000 euros each Pilot per year, gets more, because he slips automatically into a higher salary group.

But, as Volkens correctly says: the conflict is more than money. The pilots are fighting back, as before, the cabin staff competent representation, however, is that more and more flights from the classic Lufthansa to the low-cost subsidiary Euro wings shift, where the labour cost is on average a third lower. Lower salaries and other working conditions for the vacation rules, or the calculation of on-call services, if an employee has to step in at short notice for another.

But actually, the reasons lie in the Organisation of the trade Union and the company.

time and again strikes at Lufthansa and their daughters

• spring 2001

  Flight captains of the Lufthansa lay down several times the work. From the first strike, several thousand Connections are affected. At the end of the pilot Union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) is riding its first collective bargaining agreement.

• summer 2008

  strike The ground and cabin staff at Lufthansa for five days. Several hundred flights. The Verdi trade Union and the company agree in the end on higher salaries.

• September, 2012

  The flight attendants ‘ Union Ufo caused the largest loss of a single strike in the history of Lufthansa. Around 1000 flights are cancelled, it hits over 100,000 passengers. Both sides choose mediation.

• April 2013

  A warning strike of the ground staff places the air traffic of Lufthansa in Germany for almost lame. The Airline estimated that around 150,000 passengers are affected. In may Dating Verdi and the group then stepped pay increases and job protection.

• 2. to 4. April 2014

  the Start of a series of Strikes, now 13 rounds of the Lufthansa pilots. Beginning approximately 3800 flights. It comes to transition, pensions, salary, pension, and in the Background on the low-cost subsidiary Euro wings./p>

• 6. July 2015

  The pilots explain the in may started arbitration for failed. Three weeks later, they offer Lufthansa savings of about 400 million euros, in order to prevent Job relocation.

• 8./9. September 2015

  the route for the time being, final stage of the pilot strike: 16 hours recusal on the length and on the following day, also on the Short – and medium-haul routes. The Hessen land labour court declared the strike illegal, because the tariff would have pursued foreign targets. Since April 2014, have failed because of the pilot strikes more than 8,500 flights, of which approximately one Million passengers were affected.

• 6. February 2015

  The flight attendants ‘ Union Ufo will start a week-long strike of Lufthansa’s cabin staff. The conflict is finally resolved by the SPD politician Matthias Platzeck.

• 27. October 2016

  Ufo calls for eurowings and Germanwings cabin crew to a 24-hour strike. The conflict lasts.

• 23. November 2016

  After negotiations about the compensation of approximately 5400 pilots of the core company Lufthansa and subsidiary Germanwings are failed, calls on the VC again to strike. The Union is demanding – about five years – an increase of 22 percent.

The Association of the Cockpit is a relatively small saves a Union. Their leadership is, unlike in the case of large industrial unions such as IG metal of only a few full-time employees, but all the more in the company for active pilots.

This makes a big difference. The content of the officials will not change in the case of IG Metall & Co directly if the for your clientele especially large wage get increases. To do this, leaders of the great trade unions will have to include nature in accordance with financial statements for all companies in a group. And the wage may overwhelm rounds, neither the weakest companies, even less well-paid Jobs to very expensive. Otherwise, companies end up with fewer new people – and, thus, the number of trade Union members, and awarded Jobs to service providers or replace them by machines.

Differently in the pilots. This can not only to complete financial statements, without regard to the Rest of the staff. Because their Jobs are difficult or impossible to replace. The part-time officials feel the consequences of their financial statements directly in their own wallet. And meet quasi-daily Basis, and no longer will need to justify every step in person – not rare, even if you are already in the trade-Union top. “And since we have to do in the face of growing automation in the Cockpit is often little, there remains plenty of time for discussions,” said a pilot.

• page 1: Why the rate of conflict is nearly impossible
• page 2: the The Golden goose