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Lufthansa flight attendants strike at three German airports | Lufthansa flight attendants strike at three German airports |
(35 minutes later) | |
A union representing Lufthansa flight attendants called members at Frankfurt and Berlin's Tegel airport out on strike Tuesday, escalating a pay dispute with Germany's biggest airline and forcing widespread flight cancellations. | A union representing Lufthansa flight attendants called members at Frankfurt and Berlin's Tegel airport out on strike Tuesday, escalating a pay dispute with Germany's biggest airline and forcing widespread flight cancellations. |
The UFO union called on Berlin-based members to walk out for eight hours starting at 5am local time, and their counterparts at Frankfurt, Germany's busiest airport and Lufthansa's main hub, to follow at 6am. | The UFO union called on Berlin-based members to walk out for eight hours starting at 5am local time, and their counterparts at Frankfurt, Germany's busiest airport and Lufthansa's main hub, to follow at 6am. |
UFO also planned to hit Germany's second-busiest airport, Munich, on Tuesday. An 11-hour walkout there was set to start at 1pm. | UFO also planned to hit Germany's second-busiest airport, Munich, on Tuesday. An 11-hour walkout there was set to start at 1pm. |
Lufthansa said the walkouts would force it to cancel "a majority of flights". It listed around 200 flights as cancelled on Tuesday morning, most of them to and from Frankfurt – mostly on short- and medium-haul routes – but also flights to and from destinations including Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Beijing and Mexico City. | |
The union opened its strike campaign with an eight-hour walkout in Frankfurt last Friday and warned of more to come if Lufthansa didn't give ground. It has given only a few hours' notice of where and when it plans to strike. | The union opened its strike campaign with an eight-hour walkout in Frankfurt last Friday and warned of more to come if Lufthansa didn't give ground. It has given only a few hours' notice of where and when it plans to strike. |
UFO is seeking a 5% pay raise for the airline's more than 18,000 cabin crew workers. Lufthansa has said it is offering a 3.5% raise. | UFO is seeking a 5% pay raise for the airline's more than 18,000 cabin crew workers. Lufthansa has said it is offering a 3.5% raise. |
Other issues in their dispute include the possibility of Lufthansa transferring flight attendants to its partner budget airlines with cheaper contracts as part of a cost-saving programme. | Other issues in their dispute include the possibility of Lufthansa transferring flight attendants to its partner budget airlines with cheaper contracts as part of a cost-saving programme. |
Lufthansa is trying to cut costs amid tough competition from budget carriers in Europe and from emerging Gulf airlines. |
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