Ground workers, Lufthansa pick mediators ahead of wage talks
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The trade union verdi and German airline Lufthansa named their mediators on Monday for arbitration talks set to begin on March 25 for 25,000 ground employees.
The union named Thuringia's Premier Bodo Ramelow of The Left party while Lufthansa's mediator is Frank-Jürgen Weise, the former head of the Federal Labour Agency. The announcements were made separately in Berlin and Frankfurt.
Arbitration is set to end on March 28 at the latest.
The union and the airline agreed last week to seek arbitration in an effort to avoid strikes over the Easter holiday. The union has agreed not to strike during the arbitration process.
"However, if the arbitration does not produce a result that the employees can agree to, it can be assumed that there will be enforced strikes," said verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky. The ballot for this will be initiated on Tuesday.
Verdi is demanding 12.5% more pay for Lufthansa ground staff for a 12-month term, while the company has so far offered 10% for a 28-month term. An inflation compensation bonus of €3,000 ($3,262) is not contested.
Recently, hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled due to strikes organized by verdi's ground employee members.
The two mediators are experienced in resolving collective bargaining disputes.
Ramelow mediated the collective bargaining disputes with the train drivers' union GDL and the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn in 2015 and 2017. Weise was involved in settling the dispute between Lufthansa and the cabin crew union Ufo in 2019/2020.
