Strongly condemns the industrial action by Discover Airlines
"Discover Airlines strongly disagrees with the strike call made by unions UFO and VC," the company stated. It's unacceptable to ask workers to strike during the busy travel period, especially when agreements have already been made with union Verdi in terms of collective bargaining. This action indicates that UFO and VC are not prioritizing their members' needs, but rather seeking power and influence.
UFO and VC feel caught off guard by the unexpected agreement between Verdi and Discover, following several unsuccessful negotiation sessions about the first collective bargaining agreements for the three-year-old airline. They believe they have a larger member base among Discover's about 1900 workers and should be the primary negotiators.
They suspect that Discover's shift towards Verdi is part of a larger strategy by the Lufthansa group to diminish powerful industry unions, and they fear the same could happen to the newly established City Airlines for feeder flights.
Discover, which operates European as well as long-haul flights from Frankfurt and Munich, will unveil the specifics of flight cancellations due to the strike later in the day. During the initial strike wave initiated by VC and UFO at the beginning of the year, minimal cancellations occurred due to support from the Lufthansa network. Nevertheless, the ongoing strike results in escalating costs for the Lufthansa group.
The company had to decrease its profit forecast for this year due to strikes led by Verdi in the wage dispute for ground staff during the first half of the year, which resulted in direct and indirect expenses of half a billion euros.
The disagreement between UFO and VC seems even more pronounced now, as they believe they have the largest member base among Discover's employees and consider themselves the rightful primary negotiators. Even The sharpest negotiation tactics from UFO and VC might struggle to overturn Discover's decision to prioritize agreements with other unions.
