The service union Verdi is increasing the pressure in the wage dispute with Deutsche Lufthansa with a further strike.

The employees of the freight subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo are to stop work for one day on Saturday, as Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky said on Friday. It would depend on an improved offer from the airline as to whether Lufthansa's deadline offer would be negotiated further on Monday. According to the union, Lufthansa has not yet responded to this demand.

The airline criticized the announcement. "The strikes are causing a major loss of confidence and quality, which we will feel not only during the current escalation, but also in the long term with our customers," said Cargo CFO Frank Bauer. In the past three days alone, the Group has canceled 28 freighter flights and lost a mid-single-digit million euro amount as a result. The new strike is an additional burden for Lufthansa and directly strengthens the competition. "It does not increase our scope for negotiation," explained Bauer. A Lufthansa spokesperson called it unacceptable to initiate a new escalation while one was still ongoing. The company had offered March 4 to continue the talks. However, Verdi showed that the union was not interested in a dialog and finding a joint solution. "Against this backdrop, we must examine whether and how we can continue collective bargaining with Verdi."

Verdi had called on the employees and trainees of the Group companies Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Aviation Training and Lufthansa Technical Training to go on a three-day warning strike from Wednesday. Lufthansa had not responded to the union's proposal to bring forward a fifth round of negotiations agreed for mid-March. The strike was not expected to affect the flight schedule.

Employees on the ground - from check-in and flight handling to administration, IT and technical staff - have already struck three times this month. Verdi is demanding 12.5 percent more pay for the approximately 25,000 employees of Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo, at least 500 euros per month over a twelve-month period.

(Report by Philipp Krach. Edited by Olaf Brenner. 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).)