Lufthansa pilots ordered by courts to end current strike

The current and 13th in a series of strikes by Lufthansa pilots has been ordered to end by the regional labor court in the federal state of Hesse, Germany, which has overruled a decision made by a lower court on Tuesday evening which allowed today’s strike to go ahead. The court ruled that the pilots were striking not only over pay and retirement benefits but also because of Lufthansa’s plans to expand the low-cost arm of the airline. As this was not part of the union’s mandate in pay talks, the strike was deemed not to be legal.
This series of strikes began 18 months ago and they were intended to stop the impending changes to early retirement benefits. However more recently the agenda has changed and now includes the pilots’ desire to restrict expansion of a low-cost arm to the airline. Lufthansa’s management has made it abundantly clear that the airline must cost cuts in order to compete with budget carriers who are currently targeting the German market, including Ryanair who today increased its profit forecast by 25%.
Despite the court ruling the current strike affected over 1,000 flights, although it is hoped that everything will be back to normal by Thursday. Strikes will often see airlines having to return planes to where they ought to be in order to continue with their normal service.
Markus Wahl, spokesman for the pilots’ union VC, indicated that the union was surprised by the ruling and hinting that this may not mean an end to the strikes, stating that “We will review the decision and then draw the consequences for our continuing labor battle.” On the other hand Lufthansa welcomed the decision and indicated it was still ready to continue discussions with the union. However the carrier added that it was considering an option to expand a claim for damages.