German carrier Lufthansa and the Verdi union have averted further strikes by another group of workers, after reaching a collective bargaining agreement for some 20,000 ground staff, with pay hikes of around 4.6% in two stages, the two sides said Friday.
However, strikes in the Lufthansa Group are not off the table with the agreement for ground staff, as pilots and cabin crew at the core Lufthansa brand and at other flight operations have voted to strike.
Still, after two strike waves, there are no current walkout threats from the in-air personnel. A Lufthansa offer of talks to the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) brought movement into the deadlocked wage dispute. Only a few weeks ago, hundreds of flights were cancelled due to a walkout by pilots.
The ground personnel deal
Under the deal for ground staff, employees at Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo will receive 2.2% more pay retroactive to January 1, followed by a further 2.4% increase from March 1, 2027.
For Lufthansa ground staff, the first stage will take effect a year later due to the difficult economic situation. The collective agreement runs for 26 months until the end of February 2028.
Michael Niggemann, Lufthansa's board member for human resources and legal affairs, said the deal guaranteed long-term reliability.
"This agreement sends a clear message in times of geopolitical crises and their resulting impact on the global economy," he said in a statement.
Verdi agreed. "This collective bargaining result creates security in uncertain times," chief negotiator Marvin Reschinsky said. "In future, employees will have an average of a good €220 more in their pockets each month."
Verdi had entered the talks demanding 6% more pay for a term of 12 months. At minimum, it wanted €250 more per month.
The occupational groups represented by Verdi, for example in technical services, at check-in or in customer support, are able to bring flight operations to a standstill in the event of a dispute. Verdi had already sounded out willingness to strike and found strong support. In 2024, only arbitration produced a solution.
