Strikes during the holiday season: The unions Ufo and Vereinigung Cockpit have called on their members to stop working from Tuesday.
The unions Ufo and Vereinigung Cockpit have called on the flying staff of the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines to go on strike. The pilots and cabin crew are to stop work from Tuesday (27 August) to Friday (30 August), the unions in Frankfurt announced.
“The aim of the industrial action is the conclusion of a collective wage agreement and a framework agreement for the cockpit personnel stationed in Germany at EW Discover GmbH by the Cockpit Association,” says the press release from the Cockpit Association.
The background to this is a conflict with the Verdi union, which concluded the first collective bargaining agreements for pilots and flight attendants at Discover, a young airline. The demands of Ufo and VC differ little in content, but the sector unions want to implement their own collective bargaining agreements. Verdi does not have enough members in flight operations and was appointed as a collective bargaining partner by Lufthansa management, they say.
The union members voted for the industrial action in separate ballots last Wednesday. At Ufo, 91.8 percent of participants voted for industrial action. Among the Discover pilots from VC, the figure was 81 percent, the union announced.
Discover Airlines will start with 27 aircraft from Munich and Frankfurt to 50 holiday destinations in Europe and overseas. The fleet is expected to grow to 33 aircraft by mid-2027, the company announced. The company employs around 2,000 people, including 500 pilots and 1,400 flight attendants. Until September 5, 2023, the company operated under the name Eurowings Discover.
The VC pilots have already gone on strike three times this winter. The UFO also called on its members to stop work in order to force negotiations with management.
In addition to regular wage increases for both professional groups of between 16 and 38 percent until the end of 2027, the Verdi contract contains provisions for allowances and working hours, company pension schemes and assistance in the event of loss of a pilot's license. For its own members, Verdi has stipulated extended protection against dismissal and an additional half-month's salary.
The motto “Those who don't join in will be fired sooner” has left Ufo stunned, said Ufo wage expert Harry Jaeger. “Unfortunately, the employers' side has left us no choice but to take industrial action.”
For the unions VC and Ufo, it is also about influence in the parent company, in which they are firmly rooted in collective bargaining. Management has established two airlines, Discover Airlines and City Airlines, which have not yet been subject to collective bargaining, which can take over flights at lower costs that are currently flown by Lufthansa itself or its regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline. Their fleet could shrink in the future, meaning that jobs under traditional collective bargaining conditions will disappear.
