Ground staff at German airline Lufthansa walked off the job at major airports today in their second strike this month, raising pressure in wage talks due to continue tomorrow.
"If Lufthansa does not realise that it now has to take a big step towards us, then longer strikes will continue to be possible," labour union Verdi's lead negotiator, Marvin Reschinsky, said.
Over 100,000 passengers will be affected by the industrial action, which is due to run until tomorrow morning, the airline has said.
Lufthansa said it could only operate 10% of scheduled flights at the affected airports, which include Germany's biggest hub in Frankfurt as well as Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart.
The first flights were cancelled yesterday evening.
Germany, Europe's largest economy, has been hit with a number of nationwide strikes affecting air travel, railways and public transport, as workers faced with high inflation demand greater pay.
The latest strike at Lufthansa comes after the airline presented a new wage offer for some 25,000 ground staff workers last week. Verdi described the offer as "blatantly antisocial".
Verdi is demanding a wage rise of 12.5% or at least €500 more per month over a 12-month period, plus a one-time payment of €3,000 to offset inflation.
These high demands have become necessary as Lufthansa's ground staff has lost 10% of its purchasing power in comparison to 2021, Verdi's Reschinsky said.
