Eurowings braces as cabin crew union proclaims strike

A union representing cabin crew for Lufthansa’s budget airline Eurowings announced that strikes could take place at any time over the next two weeks, starting on Monday.

The union UFO announced on Thursday that the cabin crew strike would begin on Monday, after negotiations about pay and other contract conditions fell through. After two weeks, UFO said it may call for indefinite walk-outs, though not during the Christmas period.

A leading member of UFO, Nicoley Baublies, said that the union felt there was no other choice but to call the strike after Eurowings’ management had taken their own proposal for a resolution off the table on Wednesday.

In September, competing union Verdi had organized a ‘warning strike’ of flight crew, which resulted in eight flights being cancelled.

Lufthansa has been putting Eurowings through major transformation in recent years, and has merged its operations with that of the company’s other low-cost subsidiary, Germanwings.

The parent airline itself has struggled with labour disputes in recent years. Just this summer, Lufthansa management finally reached an agreement with cabin crew staff after a two year-long ordeal that impacted hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The Lufthansa staff last November staged the longest walkout in the company’s history with a seven-day stoppage, during which 4,700 flights were scrapped and 550,000 passengers were unable to fly.