Lufthansa and the Verdi trade union, which represents the carrier’s ground staff in Germany, have settled a long drawn-out wage dispute following months of strike action and disruption to services.
The new collective wage agreement will offer pay increases of around 12.5 per cent over two years, inflation compensation of €3,000 per employee, as well as increased holiday pay and an ‘extensive’ package for trainees.
The agreement, which affects some 25,000 ground staff, will align working conditions across East and West Germany and reintroduce a monthly shift allowance of 3.6 per cent of the basic salary.
The German carrier has been plagued by strikes since the beginning of the year, causing significant disruption to services, and recently adjusted its 2024 operating margin down as a direct result of the labour dispute.
Deutsche Lufthansa chief human resources officer and labour director, Michael Niggemann, said the agreement is “good news”.
“Our employees will benefit from significant and sustainable pay rises. … At the same time, both our guests and our companies finally have planning security again in this regard. The agreement is of course a major economic challenge for us, to which we must now find answers,” he said.
Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky described the deal as “historic”.
“We fought hard for this compromise and we can now be very satisfied,” he said in a statement.