Overview

• Vereinigung Cockpit’s tariff commission declared negotiations on company and transitional pensions failed and requested a membership ballot to authorize potential strikes.
• Until the ballot concludes, the union says there will be no work stoppages, leaving the timing of any action undecided.
• Roughly 4,800 employees are affected by the disputed arrangements stemming from a 2017 deal that ended guaranteed pension levels and raised the transitional pension age to 60.
• Lufthansa said it had not been informed of a breakdown in talks and therefore could not comment on the union’s move.
• The dispute is intertwined with a wider group strategy to expand lower-cost units City Airlines and Discover under ver.di agreements, as VC notes it last staged a one-day strike in 2022.