German air travel business Lufthansa has increased pay for around 20,000 ground service employees, working across various tranches of the business, by up to 18.4% depending on position and length of service.
The pay award was agreed following collective bargaining proceedings with trade union Ver.di and is still subject to a member ballot.
Lufthansa agreed to a salary increase in three stages, including a payment of €200 per month, backdated to July 2022, a further 2.5% or at least €125 per month from January next year, and then another 2.5% from July 2023. Trainees have been awarded a fixed monthly fee of €180 from July 2022.
For a check-in employee, for example, the increase could mean an overall raise of between 13.6% and 18.4%.
Employees in lower salary groups have also been offered an additional €13 per hour from October 2022, with two further increases in 2023, to remain ahead of the statutory minimum wage.
Christine Behle, deputy chairwoman and negotiator at ver.di, said: “This is a good result, which means a monthly increase of at least 377 euros up to 498 euros across all employee groups.
“The result includes inflation compensation and an additional real wage increase. It was important to us to achieve this real balance in order to protect the employees in this economically difficult situation. That succeeded. This result, which makes Lufthansa more attractive as an employer, can also relieve the burden.”
Lufthansa was contacted for comment prior to publication.