Lufthansa and the ver.di trad union reached a new agreement today at their pay negotiations. From 1 July 2008, the 34,000 on the ground staff are to receive a pay rise of 5.1 per cent and a further increase of 2.3 per cent from 1 July 2009. Additionally, the employees are to get a one-off payment, including a performance-related component depending on their business segment, of up to 2.4 per cent of their annual remuneration. The pay settlement is for 21 months, ending on 28 February 2010. It means in effect that Lufthansa is raising the individual pay of employees by 4.2 per cent over a period of twelve months.
A similar offer is in the offing for cabin crew, taking into account the specifics of their working conditions. It is, however provisional on pay parity for cabin crew staff and pending agreement between Lufthansa, ver.di and UFO, the flight attendants’ union. The pay agreement with UFO expires on 31 December 2008.
In the aftermath of strike action over several days, Lufthansa Executive Board Member Human Resources Stefan Lauer said the pay settlement is a compromise at the bearable limit. “It is certainly not painless for either side. It is, all in all, only acceptable in view of the duration of the settlement and the performance-related one-off payment. It is imperative, however, that the increased costs be compensated by higher productivity. Resolution of the pay dispute on their own initiative by Lufthansa and ver.di is an important message to our customers as well as our staff and to Germany as an economic base. We will go to every length to resume flight operations quickly for our customers in the customary reliability and quality.”
