Lufthansa cabin crew vote in favour of strikes

Cabin crew at airline Lufthansa and its regional subsidiary Cityline have voted by a large majority in favour of industrial action, their union Ufo announced on Friday.

At the parent company, around 94% voted in favour of strikes, while at Cityline the figure was just under 99%. No specific strike date has been announced.

Ufo deputy leader Sara Grubisic said the union's members had "sent a clear signal."

"They are prepared to stand up for their working conditions at Lufthansa and their social security at Lufthansa CityLine – and to pursue this course of action consistently," she said.

The union had already organized shorter strikes at both companies.

From Ufo’s perspective, the reasons for the escalation are the deadlocked negotiations over the framework collective agreement at Lufthansa and the company’s unwillingness to negotiate a social collective agreement at CityLine.

Many groups within Lufthansa are currently prepared to strike.

The airline only agreed a deal with the Verdi union earlier on Friday for the approximately 20,000 ground staff to avert strikes.

However, a dispute over pilots’ occupational pensions has not yet been resolved. Just a few weeks ago, hundreds of flights were cancelled due to a pilots’ strike, disrupting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.

Pilots at Lufthansa subsidiaries Eurowings and Lufthansa Cityline also recently voted in favour of strike action.