Flight attendant strike is in the air
Due to a strike by staff members of Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, delays and cancellations of flights are threatening the travel plans of holiday-makers either leaving for a late August break or returning sun-kissed and relaxed to Munich's airport.
It was announced today at noon by the UFO trade union that the collective bargaining of roughly 19,000 employees had fallen apart, and a strike affecting all major German airports is now imminent.
Not only does the union want to enforce a wage increase higher than 5%, but in addition would like to put a stop to the outsourcing of staff to cheaper companies. Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines (AUA) has already done exactly this earlier in the year with profitable results.
Aside from a few small 'warning strikes' in 2009, this would be the first time in the German airline's history that its flight attendants have gone on strike. As a result of the announcement, Lufthansa's stock price went into a tailspin.
