Travel relief as Lufthansa cabin crew calls off strike

Lufthansa cabin crew called off a strike set down for later this week amid signs of progress in talks with the German airline. The flight attendants' union Ufo said on Wednesday that it was cancelling action planned for Thursday, Friday and Monday following a meeting with members of the Lufthansa board. The union has been locked in a long-running battle with the German air carrier over the airline's pension plans and job security.
Earlier this month, Ufo staged the longest strike in Lufthansa's history when cabin crew walked off the job for sevens days, leading to the cancellation of 4 700 flights, affecting 550 000 passengers.
Lufthansa said in a statement that the decision to call off the strike formed part an agreement on a series of key points between the airline and the union. This included both the union and the employers backing plans to hold a job summit on December 2, aimed at reaching a common ground on major questions in the protracted dispute.
The summit is to include representatives from Lufthansa as well the three unions Ufo, Verdi and Cockpit. Lufthansa said signs of a rapprochement on contentious details surrounding retirement issues reached in this week's talks with the union "may be the basis for a solution." But the union said that further negotiations on additional concrete steps to resolve the conflict were still necessary.
Cologne-based Lufthansa has also faced industrial action this year from its pilots as it attempts to cut costs to meet tough competition from budget airlines and new Middle East-based carriers.

Source: News24