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Unions prepare strikes in power battle at Lufthansa's leisure airline unit

2 specialised unions at Deutsche Lufthansa's leisure airline company Discover on Wednesday said they were preparing strikes after talks over working conditions at the system have not yielded outcomes, challenging an accord struck by another union.

Strike ballots will begin on Thursday and last until Wednesday next week, pilots' union VC and cabin team union UFO said in a statement.

VC President Andreas Pinheiro stated the goal was to accomplish collective agreements with better conditions for workers.

He added the airline company might avoid strikes by resuming and concluding settlements with VC and UFO.

VC and UFO are competitors of the much bigger services union Verdi. Recently, Verdi struck a cumulative bargaining agreement with Discover for the very first time considering that the Lufthansa brand began running in 2021, following several strikes.

The arrangement at the time covered 500 cockpit workers and 1,400 members of the cabin crew.

A Discover spokesperson on Wednesday pointed to the offer struck with Verdi. Our focus is now on making sure that the cumulative agreement is implemented and can work, she stated.

Discover hailed the deal recently, arguing it would give passengers self-confidence in their travel plans after strikes at numerous airlines have hit the industry recently.

(source: Reuters)