Lufthansa pilots call off strike
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Lufthansa pilots have called off strike action planned for next week after agreeing to an arbitration process with the German airline.
The announcement late on Wednesday averted, at least temporarily, a four-day stoppage that could have cost Lufthansa tens of millions of euros.
But Lufthansa has rejected what it sees at an attempt to interfere with management decisions as it seeks to rebuild profitiability in the face of the worst downturn in the history of commercial aviation.
The union’s action had escalated the dispute into one of the worst to hit Germany in recent years,adding to a wave of industrial action across the European airline sector, which has also affected British Airways.
An initial four-day strike called by Cockpit in February led to Lufthansa’s management taking legal action on the grounds that the action was disproportionate. In the end, the stoppage ended after 24 hours when, at the initiative of a Frankfurt court, the two sides agreed to resume negotiations. Lufthansa says strike action costs it at least €25m a day.
Lufthansa welcomed the union’s decision to call off the strike, which had been due to start on Tuesday,and the agreement to call in an arbitrator.
The latest developments had echoes of an earlier large-scale dispute. In 2001 Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the former German foreign minister, mediated in a strike over pay also called by Cockpit.
Both sides said agreement on an arbitrator in the current dispute would be reached in the next few days.
Last month Lufthansa said it would skip paying a dividend after reporting a €112m net loss for 2009, even though the airline still managed to achieve its target of an operating profit.
Source: FT.com
