The pilots of the company Eurowings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, are called to strike this Thursday after the failure of the negotiations on the reduction of their working hours, the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilot union announced on Tuesday.
Negotiations on the collective agreement within the company have “failed”, regrets this union, the only one that represents the pilots, in a press release. The pilots of Eurowings, a company based in Düsseldorf (Germany), are called, therefore, to stop work.
“Significant” increase in workload
However, according to VC, “the workload has increased considerably and the employer regularly exhausts the commitment time of colleagues up to the maximum allowed”, laments Matthias Baier, spokesman and member of the management committee of the Vereinigung Cockpit, quoted in the Press release.
After the failure of several negotiation sessions, “currently we only have the option of asserting our demands through social conflict,” he adds. The union says it remains open to discussions with management.
Staff shortage
The aviation sector in Europe has seen an increase in strikes in recent months, both among flight and ground staff. In a context of inflation, which leads to salary claims, the sector is also suffering from a shortage of personnel, after the job cuts caused by the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a first strike in September, Lufthansa pilots got big pay raises while threatening another work stoppage.
Source: BFM TV
