German flight-attendant union UFO has called for industrial action at Lufthansa on 20 October and indicated potential further strikes across the group's German-based carriers.
The planned strike will cover Lufthansa flights at the airline's hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for a 5h period from 6:00am local time, the union says.
UFO deputy chief Daniel Flohr said in a video message today that consultations will take place this week with the union's negotiation teams at group carriers about the possibility of "open-ended" strikes across group "at any time".
He says that the union will call for "action at every group airline" to achieve its objectives.
The dispute covers staff at Lufthansa, budget units Germanwings and Eurowings, regional arm CityLine, and the Frankfurt-based operation of Lufthansa's leisure joint venture with Turkish Airlines, SunExpress.
Further strike action will "solely depend on whether Lufthansa will return to the negotiation table", Flohr says.
The airline and union previously discussed employment terms, but the dispute escalated in 2018 over the installation of a new leadership team at UFO.
Flohr asserts that Lufthansa has prohibited talks with the union in relation to any group carrier and has threatened legal action against staff participating in the union's strike activities.
In August, Lufthansa filed a motion with a regional labour court in Frankfurt to "legally determine the union status of UFO".
The airline argues that both UFO's status as a union and the "authority" of its leadership to represent employees "remain unclear".
Lufthansa therefore deems the planned strike action illegal and says that talks with the union are "not possible".
The carrier is considering taking legal action against the planned strike.
Lufthansa says it has "no need" to amend its schedule and intends to operate a "full flight programme" on 20 October.
