The pilot members of Vereinigung Cockpit, LH's largest pilot union voted in favor of a strike. This is a very big deal for Germany, and the rest of the world due to the large route network that LH has, and will affect and displace many passengers if it takes place! Here is the article from CNN.com


BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Lufthansa pilots voted Thursday to hit the German flag carrier and thousands of passengers with weekly strikes to press for higher wages.

Members of Vereinigung Cockpit, the union representing some 4,200 Lufthansa pilots, said 96 percent voted to strike. The first stoppage will take place from midnight Thursday (6 p.m. EDT) until noon Friday (6 a.m. EDT).

Strikes will continue each Thursday for four weeks unless an agreement is reached, the union said.

The pilots are seeking an average wage increases of 30-35 percent -- arguing for recognition for low raises they accepted during the early 1990s, when the airline's finances were stretched. Lufthansa has so far offered increases of 10-16.7 percent.

The pilots announced a strike vote after negotiations with Lufthansa broke down in early April. A one-day strike in late March -- the first since 1996 -- halted 116 flights and delayed about 10,000 passengers at airports throughout Germany.

The strike is another blow to the airline, already under pressure after last week posting a 94 percent plunge in first-quarter operating profit because of high fuel costs and investment in electronic commerce.

The company's chief financial officer Karl-Ludwig Kley said operating profit for the whole of 2001 would likely come in flat only if it reaches an "acceptable agreement with the trade union in a reasonable time."