Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

im Konzerntarifrat (kurz KTR) treffen sich Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der für das Kabinenpersonal im Lufthansa-Konzern zuständigen Gewerkschaften – also der ACLVB, der CNE /LBC NVK (beide aus Belgien; Brussels Airlines), der EFA (Schweiz; Edelweiss Air), der kapers (Schweiz; SWISS), der vida (Österreich; Austrian Airlines und Eurowings Europe) und der UFO.

Ziel des Gremiums ist einerseits ein regelmäßiger Austausch zu den Arbeits- und Vergütungsbedingungen der vertretenen Airlines als auch die gegenseitige Unterstützung in Tarifverhandlungen. War es in der Vergangenheit etwa so, dass managementseitig in Land A behauptet wurde, die Kollegen in Land B arbeiteten mehr für weniger, ist nun ein kurzer Faktencheck jederzeit möglich. Kurz gesagt: Mit Hilfe des KTR sollen Unterbietungswettbewerbe zwischen den einzelnen Airlines der Gruppe unterbunden werden.  

In einem ersten Schritt haben die beteiligten Gewerkschaften alltägliche Themenkomplexe identifiziert, die in den einzelnen Airlines unterschiedlich und meist nicht zur Zufriedenheit der Crews gehandhabt werden. 

Dazu gehört die bisweilen unklare Auslegung der EASA-FTL-Regeln, die unzureichenden Pausen- und Verpflegungsregeln, die nicht überall vorhandenen Ruhemöglichkeiten an Bord sowie Stressfaktoren wie die zu enge A320-MAX-Galley, die Nichtdurchsetzung von Handgepäckregeln und fehlender bzw. nicht abschließbarer Fächer für Crew-Gepäck. 

Hierzu möchten wir konzernweit einheitliche Regelungen mit den Verantwortlichen der einzelnen Fluggesellschaften vereinbaren. Während andere Standardisierungsprozesse im Konzern bisher eher zusätzlichen Aufwand oder Intransparenz für die Crews mit sich gebracht haben, wollen wir endlich auch einmal positive Effekte aus der Matrix-Struktur zu spüren bekommen!

In einem offenen Brief hat der Konzerntarifrat sich heute an die konzernweit Zuständigen gewandt. Ihr könnt diesen weiter unten nachlesen.

Wir hoffen auf eine konstruktive Zusammenarbeit und baldige faire Lösungen!

Euer Konzerntarifrat  

 

Open Letter
from the Works Committee of the LH Group 
to the Boards of Management and Cabin Crew Staff
of Lufthansa Group Airlines, to the Group's Management Board,  
 

Dear Dr. Volkens,

Dear Members of the Boards of Management and Personnel Managers,

Dear Colleagues,

The Works Committee of the LH Group (KTR) has been holding meetings at regular intervals for quite some time now. First created by the unions and co-determination bodies as a platform for the exchange of ideas about pay policies between representatives of the cabin crews of Lufthansa Group Airlines, it is our intention to continue this pursuit of our common aims by our common cooperation together.  

With this in mind we are contacting you, as members of management and as colleagues on board, by means of this open letter, to bring to your attention matters that we will be attending to in the coming months throughout the Group.

Following the new orientation of the Lufthansa Group as a Group active throughout Europe, a matrix structure has been developed in the past few years which aims at drawing the various Group airlines closer together. All of the different airlines have tasks to perform which have an effect on all the airlines within the Group.

Unfortunately this move towards standardisation has not yet succeeded when it comes to working conditions in the cabins. There are many differences in the basic regulations of flight operation and the interior fittings of the aircraft as our places of work. These include for example:

• Methods of Implementing EASA FTL: We note that the EASA FTL are applied in a variety of ways within the Lufthansa Group. When it comes to reserve and standby, and the way they are implemented with a view to planning the sleep times of the crew members involved, the same valid EASA guidelines should be applied throughout the LH Group. The legal requirement to have designated days off, and record them in the duty roster, is unfortunately not regulated in all the Group airlines.
• Rest & Nutrition: Each Group airline has its own rules and procedures in this area. Hardly any of them do justice to the cabin requirements – and what is more, in our view many do not comply with the legal provisions of EASA OPS.  The allocation of rest breaks, realistically applied in practice, and the provision of catering facilities, are two of the basic everyday rights for our colleagues working on the ground. There is no reason why this should be any different for the cabin crew.
• Crew Rest Facilities: On board the planes, facilities for taking a rest on long-haul flights vary. On similar tours, the crews of one airline have so-called crew-bunks available, while on another airline no adequate rest facilities are provided. Here too the question of standardisation arises, especially because the same guidelines apply and should be of equal importance to all Group airlines when it comes to the subject of fatigue. 
• MAX Galley: Some Group airlines already have them, others are threatened by its imminent installation: The so-called MAX configuration on board the A320 family results in a new form of added workload for the crews. It leads to a considerable reduction in space on board, which is already quite tight. Working in such a restricted space, and the lack of facilities for resting during breaks, represent a major stress factor, a fact that has now been confirmed by scientific studies (psychosocial stress). There are also health aspects to consider in relation to the MAX Galley, because due to the lack of space, proper ergonomic movements are not possible, and the needed surfaces to put things down on are missing.
• Hand-luggage rules are not consistently applied: Although the regulations about taking hand-luggage into the cabin are mostly consistent throughout the Group, in many cases their compliance is not handled and checked in the same way. This leads, firstly, to delays in the boarding process, and secondly to disagreeable discussions between cabin crew and passengers. The problem is, as they say, simply thrown at the feet of the crew.
• Storage space for the crew's luggage: One further effect of aircraft optimisation is reduced storage space for the crew's luggage in the cabin. In particular there is no way to securely lock the baggage compartments, so complaints about theft to the detriment of the crew are filed on a regular basis.

In our view these points all highlight the discrepancy between outward depictions of show and the realities on board our aircraft.

On the one hand, the Group can rightly be pleased at the very good results of customer surveys and the successes on Skytrax and other assessment platforms. Clearly these are largely due to the dedicated work of the cabin crews. The principle here is that passengers should be given the same quality of service in all Group companies, as far as possible. 

On the other hand, we do not find such a comparable level of quality for many aspects of the workplace in the cabin. 

Many of the topics addressed here have been discussed on various levels without producing any result. The aim of the Works Committee of the LH Group is now to bring together these discussions, bring them to a common table, and work out feasible and consistent solutions for all participants.

We feel that this endeavour is ultimately in the interest of Group Management, as well, and we look forward to receiving concrete proposals of a meeting date for a first common exchange of ideas.

 

Your Works Committee of the LH Group

Filip Lemberechts
ACLVB 

Madeleine Billeter
EFA - Edelweiss Air Flight Attendant Association

Denny Manimanakis
kapers Cabin Crew Union

Alexander Behrens
UFO - Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation

Johannes Schwarcz-Breuer
Gewerkschaft vida