Lufthansa pilots' union announces new strikes

Lufthansa pilots called for a fresh round of strikes for Tuesday and Wednesday after discussions with German airline Lufthansa broke down, the pilots' union Cockpit announced on Sunday.

The union said short and long-haul flights would be affected during the November 29 and November 30 strikes.

Talks Sunday between Cockpit and Lufthansa concerning the wage dispute "did not produce any results," the union's spokesman Jörg Handwerg said in a statement.

According to the statement, Cockpit turned down a Lufthansa offer and criticized the company, saying: "It is completely incomprehensible that a tariff partner still strictly refuses to submit an offer on the basis of which one can negotiate."

So far, some 350,000 passengers have been affected in the last bout of work stoppages, with 2,755 flights canceled from Wednesday to Saturday. On Sunday, an additional eight flights were canceled in Munich, including five intercontinental flights, and 27 in Frankfurt, of which 14 were long-haul.

Cockpit wants an average annual pay increase of 3.7 percent for 5,400 pilots over a five-year period dating back to 2012 until May 2017.

Lufthansa has offered to increase wages by 4.4 percent in two installments, as well as a one-off payment worth 1.8 months' pay.

The wage dispute has been running for some two and a half years.

rs/jlw (AFP, dpa, Reuters)