Lufthansa cabin crew strike to go on

The Labor Court in Darmstadt ruled early Wednesday to reject a claim by Lufthansa against the UFO union representing cabin crews. The court ruled that UFO had made the aims of its strike sufficiently specific.

Previously, the Labor Court in Dusseldorf had declared that the aims of the UFO strike in Dusseldorf had not been specific enough, and declared the strike unlawful - but only in Dusseldorf on Tuesday.

The Darmstadt ruling on Wednesday allows the strike to continue.

Affecting flights

Lufthansa has canceled 930 flights in and out of Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf on Wednesday. The company said that over 100,000 passengers would be affected.

Bettina Volkens, a Lufthansa board member said, "It's completely clear to us that UFO does not have deeds to match its words and is willing to allow 100,000 customers to suffer."

The head of the UFO, Nicoley Baublies, told reporters the union would strike on all short-, medium- and long-haul flights from Wednesday until Friday, and warned that strikes could continue beyond Friday.

He said that the union was still open for talks as long as any arbitration proposal about the company's future was part of the conversation. "Striking is not a purpose to itself," Baubiles added.

Cabin crew workers added they would strike until Friday as they battle for retirement age policies, pay and pension benefits. The dispute between the UFO union and Lufthansa has been going on for two years.

Lufthansa has made canceled flight information available online at:

http://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/Travel-information

smm/jm (dpa, AFP)