Story ID: GPlufthansaCabinCrew06303015
Lufthansa Averts Cabin Crew Strike
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Reprieve to last until at least mid-July 
Word Count: 377
Lufthansa and cabin crew union UFO have agreed to “key points” in their negotiations over pay and retirement benefits in time to avert a July 1 strike, the airline announced Tuesday. As a result, the airline’s flight attendants have agreed to abstain from any work actions until at least mid-July.

A tentative agreement between Lufthansa and the UFO grants transitional pensions for new employees and would revise the airline’s pension plan to require personal contributions if it does not produce a “realistic” interest rate of 5.5 percent. Lufthansa has said that low interest rates have resulted in unsustainable pension costs for the company. Last year its pension plan cost it €3.7 billion.

Plans call for the sides to meet in a “workshop” to address job security concerns and the “Alliance for growth and employment” plan offered by Lufthansa in February. The UFO has offered the prospect of completely refraining from strike action if the sides reach mutually agreeable terms during the workshop.

"We have again presented the UFO with a significantly improved offer for the conversion of retirement and transitional care to be able to return to discussion mode,” said Deutsche Lufthansa chief officer for corporate human resources and legal affairs Bettina Vokens. “I am convinced that we can arrive at a solution on this basis. We must keep the pension systems financially sustainable. At the same time we have made an offer in which the cabin staff at Lufthansa will also receive an absolute top notch pension system in the future.”

The June 30 reprieve effectively canceled the UFO’s plans for a series of strikes scheduled to last until at least September 16. Last week the union said that the frequency and any necessary expansion of the strikes would “depend on the readiness of the executive board of Lufthansa.”

Lufthansa pilot unions engaged in a series of near crippling strikes for the airline over the past year in protest of the airline’s efforts to raise the retirement age for new-hire pilots from 55 to 60. Retired pilots can now draw 60 percent of their salary until they turn 63, at which point they become eligible for state- and employer-sponsored retirement benefits. The sides remain in arbitration over the matter.