Constructive talks: Lufthansa continues negotiations with pilots and Verdi – Lufthansa share turns positive | message

—On Monday, the Verdi union demanded better protection against job losses for the approximately 35,000 employees it represented and warned against the company being broken up.

The latter had recently brought up the conversation with wholesaler Heinz Hermann Thiele, who last Thursday enabled the German state to join the company with the majority of the remaining shareholders. With reference to the sharp rise in interest and debt, the billionaire asked in interviews to put daughters like Lufthansa Technik and the catering subsidiary LSG Sky Chefs on the test bench. LSG has been on sale for a long time, while the maintenance subsidiary is considered a valuable silverware. There is also a (partial) exchange in the discussion here.

The Verdi Vice-Chair Christine Behle said on Monday that there is a great willingness among employees to stand up for Lufthansa’s competitiveness. Savings margins were offered. In return, people expected security. “Employees cannot afford to give the company a blank check for their own future.” The union also does not want to accept wages that threaten the existence of the union.

Verdi is one of three trade unions negotiating employee savings margins to deal with the corona slump. It mainly represents the floor and technical staff. The next talks will take place on Tuesday (June 30th) in Frankfurt. The UFO union has already reached an agreement for the cabin and the cockpit association is still under negotiation with the pilots.

Behle described as “out of the question” that employment protection for the approximately 22,000 flight attendants could be suspended in the UFO contract. This was rejected by Ufo managing director Nicoley Baublies. The Lufthansa Executive Board can only terminate the agreement if even the most negative assumptions are surpassed and the company otherwise slips into bankruptcy. In terms of calculations, 2,600 jobs have been cut and protection against dismissal has been achieved for four years. The ballot should begin on July 10th.

Lufthansa shareholders approved a 20 percent capital participation of the Federal Republic on Thursday. This means that the MDAX Group can continue to fly with German state aid. The aid package consisting of credit and equity components has a volume of nine billion euros.

The shares of the crisis-ridden airline have not taken a step into the MDAX since their DAX relegation a week ago. This Monday, they slipped via XETRA to € 8.594, the lowest price since the end of May, but then recovered again. At the end of trading, they were up 0.20 percent at EUR 9.01. In a week of MDAX membership, the papers entered almost 15 percent. Since their interim high a good three weeks ago, the losses even add up to around 31 percent. The relief after the shareholders’ approval of the rescue package only lasted briefly.

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(Reuters / dpa-AFX)