German union urges flight caterer to go on strike

Accusing Lufthansa of failing to secure guarantees against pay cuts for LSG staff as it sells the catering subsidiary's European operations to Swiss-owned Gategroup. (Skift)

German services union ver.di urged members at Lufthansa’s catering subsidiary LSG Sky Chefs, which provides onboard meals for numerous airlines, to go on strike across airports in Germany for 24 hours on Monday.

Accusing Lufthansa of failing to secure guarantees against pay cuts for LSG staff as it sells the catering subsidiary’s European operations to Swiss-owned Gategroup, the union said the German airline’s board “has gambled away its trust”.

“To date, the promise by the executive board to assume social responsibility for approximately 7,000 employees has not been fulfilled,” said ver.di in a statement.

“On Monday, employees of LSG at Frankfurt, Munich, Duesseldorf, Koeln, Stuttgart and Berlin airports will be on strike for 24 hours from 00:00,” said the union in a statement.

LSG Sky Chefs is the world’s second biggest flight caterer, providing meals for 300 airline companies annually.

On Tuesday, its parent company said it would sell the subsidiary’s European operations to Gategroup, without giving financial details.