The flight attendants' union UFO declared on Wednesday that its members had voted in favor of industrial action by a large majority in ballots. At Lufthansa there was an approval rate of 96.3 percent and at Lufthansa CityLine even 97.8 percent. "The high level of participation in the ballots shows us that our members clearly agree with our demands and are prepared to take industrial action to achieve them," said UFO CEO Joachim Vázquez Bürger. Further steps will now be evaluated, various strike scenarios will be examined and information will be provided shortly.

"The negotiations with the Lufthansa Group have unfortunately reached a deadlock in both airlines, which in our view has left us with no other option than to let our members vote on strike action as a last resort," explained Harry Jaeger, Head of Collective Bargaining Policy at UFO and lead negotiator at Lufthansa. "We remain open to reasonable offers and fair solutions from the employer in order to possibly avert strikes in the short term," emphasized Vázquez Bürger.

(Report by Klaus Lauer; edited by Ralf Banser - If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).