Lufthansa flight attendants accept collective bargaining agreement

Flight attendants of Deutsche Lufthansa AG stand at the airport in Munich. Cabin crew at German airline Lufthansa on 24 April voted to accept a proposed collective bargaining deal that will run through the end of 2026. Sven Hoppe/dpa

Cabin crew at German airline Lufthansa on Wednesday voted to accept a proposed collective bargaining deal that will run through the end of 2026.

Members of the UFO flight attendants' union approved the agreement with 80.45% of the vote, the union said on Wednesday.

The deal was struck two weeks ago between UFO union leaders and Lufthansa, but needed to be approved by the union's rank-and-file before taking effect.

The wage dispute with cabin crew was one of several labour fights at Lufthansa earlier this year that led to repeated strikes and major disruptions.

Before striking the deal, cabin crew had voted overwhelmingly to authorize open-ended strikes against the airline to press through their demands.

As a result of the agreement, salaries for the nearly 19,000 flight attendants at Lufthansa will increase by 17.4% over the course of three wages.

Holiday pay and foreign language allowances will also be increased, and the airline agreed to pay a one-time inflation compensation bonus of €3,000 ($3,200).

The agreement does not cover cabin crew at Lufthansa subsidiaries Cityline and Discover, who remain in negotiations with Lufthansa for their own collective bargaining deals.

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