BERLIN (Reuters) – Ground staff at German airline Lufthansa went on strike at the country’s main airports on Tuesday, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.
The strike action is expected to last until 7:10 a.m. Wednesday, the German carrier said.
This is the second strike this month by ground staff, seeking to increase pressure on the company ahead of salary negotiations, which are due to continue on Wednesday.
Airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart are affected. Lufthansa said it could only operate 10 to 20% of scheduled flights.
The first flights were canceled Monday evening.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has been hit by several nationwide strikes affecting air travel, railways and public transport. Faced with high inflation, workers are demanding wage increases.
Last week, Lufthansa presented a new salary offer for around 25,000 ground employees. The Verdi union considered this offer to be “manifestly anti-social”.
Verdi is demanding a salary increase of 12.5%, or at least 500 euros more per month over a period of 12 months, as well as the payment of a one-off bonus of 3,000 euros to compensate for inflation.
(Reporting Ilona Wissenbach, written by Nette Nöstlinger; Gaëlle Sheehan, editing by Kate Entringer)
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