Verdi clips Lufthansa's wings in half-day strike

http://www.euronews.com/ Go-slow in the skies over Germany this morning as Lufthansa cancels more than 670 flights after a strike by the Verdi trade union.

The airports of Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne are all affected, for both internal and European flights after Verdi called the "warning" strike ahead of pay talks.

"We expect Lufthansa to acknowledge this move. Then we will try to get some results at the negotiating table so that further strikes will not be necessary, but if Lufthansa sticks to its current strict position then we cannot rule this out for the future," said Verdi spokesman Gerold Schaub.

Verdi wants a pay increase of 5.2% for some 33,000 Lufthansa ground workers in Germany, and job security guarantees. The next round of wage talks begins on Friday, in a climate of cost-cutting as competition hots up from Middle Eastern airlines and low-cost carriers.

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