Workers-Control-Over-Prod
4th September 2012, 23:11
On Friday, Lufthansa workers at the Frankfurt Airport and members of the UFO trade union went on strike. The demands of the air boarding service Union are for higher wages and against the outsourcing of jobs by Lufhansa. On this Tuesday, 85% of UFO [Independence Flying-Assistance Organisation] trade union members and Lufthansa workers joined the trade unions' call for another strike at the Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin airports. 350 of the global 1,800 flights of Lufthansa were stopped by the strike. Lufthansa responded to the UFO's strike with verbal attacks, with speaker Klaus Walther telling Reuters "This is no tactic of needle pinches like the UFO announced. This is a hit in the face of customers". The damages for Lufthansa should go - as on the first strike day on Friday - into the millions. The strike will continue until unforeseeable time, with further complaints about the irreparable harm to the company, the trade union responded with further threats to enlarge the strike action. "If this arrogance continues, then we won't only have timed strikes and especially the regional strikes. Then we will say sometime in the next days that Germany shall sit still from O to 24 o'clock." said Baublies, the leader of UFO, to Reuters TV.
Frankfurt was the worst hit from the Strike - here the Stewards and Stewardesses stopped working from 6 in the morning for another 8 hours. 216 flights were cancelled in Frankfurt alone, 16 of them long term flights, that is every second short distance flight and a third of intercontinental flights, said the Lufthansa speaker. The customers standing in the hundred long lines for their flights were divided about the strike, some held it for an imposition while others expressed sympathy. "I can understand why they're striking" said Susanne Brandenbusch, whose flight to Lithuania was cancelled shortly before entering the airplane. "The entrance of uncontracted workers in the boarding service undermines the security of of the workers of Lufthansa". Others were expectantly annoyed, "In the USA something like this wouldn't have happened" said US soldier Ron Smith, who wanted to fly to Denver. Every time he wants to go through Frankfurt he gets caught up.
Next to the Lufthansa base in Frankfurt, UFO also initiated a strike in Berlin from 5 o'clock in the morning and eight hours long, from 13 o'clock to midnight the strike swept to Munich Intl. Airport. The pay dispute had been going for more than a year; while the UFO demands a 5% pay increase for its workers within the next 15 months, Lufthansa offered a mere 3.5% over 3 years, not enough to even cover inflation. The burden now lies on Lufthansa to stop its "Zero Communication" towards the Organisation, stated Baublies to the newsservice dapd.
Frankfurt was the worst hit from the Strike - here the Stewards and Stewardesses stopped working from 6 in the morning for another 8 hours. 216 flights were cancelled in Frankfurt alone, 16 of them long term flights, that is every second short distance flight and a third of intercontinental flights, said the Lufthansa speaker. The customers standing in the hundred long lines for their flights were divided about the strike, some held it for an imposition while others expressed sympathy. "I can understand why they're striking" said Susanne Brandenbusch, whose flight to Lithuania was cancelled shortly before entering the airplane. "The entrance of uncontracted workers in the boarding service undermines the security of of the workers of Lufthansa". Others were expectantly annoyed, "In the USA something like this wouldn't have happened" said US soldier Ron Smith, who wanted to fly to Denver. Every time he wants to go through Frankfurt he gets caught up.
Next to the Lufthansa base in Frankfurt, UFO also initiated a strike in Berlin from 5 o'clock in the morning and eight hours long, from 13 o'clock to midnight the strike swept to Munich Intl. Airport. The pay dispute had been going for more than a year; while the UFO demands a 5% pay increase for its workers within the next 15 months, Lufthansa offered a mere 3.5% over 3 years, not enough to even cover inflation. The burden now lies on Lufthansa to stop its "Zero Communication" towards the Organisation, stated Baublies to the newsservice dapd.