UFO to strike Lufthansa again? Cabin crew union threatens longer strikes

The airline company's cabin crew had earlier staged two strikes in November and December last year that saw hundreds of flights getting cancelled

Lufthansa's cabin crew union is planning longer strikes that could once again put thousands of travelers across the world in trouble. Needless to say, the airline company's cabin crew union wants to put further pressure on the company as earlier talks haven't yielded much result.

Lufthansa has been under pressure from its cabin crew for quite some time now and there seems to be no respite for the German airline company. It's cabin crew have already stage two major strikes in the past couple of months that saw the company cancelling hundreds of flights going out and coming in to Germany.

No respite for Lufthansa

Lufthansa
Lufthansa Pixabay

Lufthansa's cabin crew union, UFO, said that it is planning more strikes as not much could be achieved through talks with the company's management. The German airline company's cabin crew has been demanding a rise in pay and better working condition. Although the company earlier requested to sit for talks, nothing much has been achieved.

UFO now plans to stage more strikes. Needless to say, it will be in a bid to put more pressure on the company to agree to its demands. A spokesperson from UFO said that it will announce more details on Wednesday. However, the spokesperson said that this time the strike by cabin crew is likely to be of a "broader measure".

Who will suffer?

Lufthansa
Lufthansa Pixabay

The UFO spokesperson said that it will try and resolve issues once again through normal channels but if talks fall apart once again, it will be left with no choice but to stage strikes at a broader scale this time. The strike this time could be for an indefinite period as UFO is looking at the legality of an open-ended strike.

However, according to an agreement with Lufthansa in 2016, UFO cannot carry out an industrial action for its current demands before February 2. UFO had earlier staged a 48-hour strike in November that saw Lufthansa cancelling 1,300 flights flying in and out of Germany. Interestingly, a day ahead of the strike, Lufthansa had appealed in court calling it illegal but a German court ruled in favor of the union strike.

Following that, the German airline had to cancel around 180 flights in December after the cabin crew of its budget airlines Germanwings staged another strike on similar grounds. Needless to say, while Lufthansa may have to cancel flights once again if another strike is staged, the real sufferers will be the thousands of passengers who have travels plans during that time.

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