BERLIN
A pilots’ union at Lufthansa’s sister company, Germanwings, announced Wednesday a 12-hour strike across Germany on October 16 between 10.00 GMT and 21.59 GMT in an ongoing dispute over pension benefits.
Germanwings is a low-cost airline based in Cologne that is wholly-owned by Lufthansa.
Vereinigung Cockpit, the pilots’ union, said its members would ground all Germanwings' flights at airports throughout Germany.
The union represents 5,400 pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings. It said the strike was aimed at a new labor agreement on transitional pension payments.
The union has been in conflict with the Lufthansa management for months because of a disagreement over pilots’ retirement age and early-retirement benefits.
It staged several strikes this year at Frankfurt and Munich airports, which led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Separately, train drivers and employees at Germany’s main railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, went on a 14 hours strike at 12.00 GMT Wednesday that led to the cancellation of hundreds of long distance and regional services.
The union represents 34,000 railways’ employees. It is demanding a five percent pay rise and reduction in working hours from 39 hours to 37 hours per week. It has already held three warning strikes so far.
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