Fired Lufthansa employees protest outside airline office
NEW DELHI: Around 100 former crew members of Lufthansa Airline, whose services were terminated on February 2, staged a protest at the company’s office in Aerocity on Friday, demanding they be reinstated.
Shalini Sharma, general secretary of the employee’s union, said the Lufthansa Cabin Crew Union had been in talks with the management since April 2020 and had been agreed to pay cuts.
“The union even agreed for two years of unpaid leave, but the breaking point was no job assurance. On February 2, we received a mail informing us that 103 crew members had been sacked... Our demand is that the company reinstates all of us,” she said.
She said they have also sought the Centre’s intervention.
But in a detailed statement, a Lufthansa Airline spokesperson said the airline had signed an agreement with the airline union’s India wing, providing for two years of unpaid leave, with the airline continuing to pay for the local health insurance — even for enrolled family members.
“Lufthansa was also willing to absorb all associated premiums during this period. Moreover, an offer for voluntary separation packages enabling eligible colleagues to leave the company on mutual terms was also part of the agreement. Unfortunately, consent to the agreement was revoked by the union on 31 December,” the airline said.
It said, however, not being able to reach an agreement for cabin crew, the airline decided to not extend these contracts as part of a restructuring
“It should be noted that this restructuring (including personnel-related measures) is not limited to key international markets like India but affects all Lufthansa worldwide markets and to a great extent includes its home markets, especially Germany. However, there the Lufthansa was able to reach initial agreements with unions to help weather the crisis,” Lufthansa said.
Deputy commissioner of police (IGIA) Rajeev Ranjan said some employees of the airline had gathered but the situation throughout remained peaceful on the day.