Germany's Lufthansa Reportedly Terminates 103 India-Based Attendants For Seeking Job Assurance
Over the past one year, there is not a single sector that has not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, aviation, hospitality, and tourism are among the worst hit as people stopped travelling. As the situation eased and the world got used to living with the virus, there have been some improvements, but the aviation industry doesn't forecast a return to pre-COVID levels before 2023.
2020 saw the largest grounding of flights in history, followed by massive job cuts and some airlines even filing for bankruptcy.
This has those working in aviation worried so, it is only natural that some are seeking job assurances from their employers.
But for some India-based flight attendants of German airline Lufthansa, it did not go down well, and the company has terminated the services of 103 of them.
This was after the employees, who were offered a leave without pay option for two years sought "job assurance" from the management.
According to PTI, these employees had been working on a fixed-term contract with the airline and some of them were with the carrier for more than 15 years, the sources added.
All due to pandemic
A Lufthansa spokesperson, however, said that the severe financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic leaves it with no choice but to restructure the airline and as part of that "it will not be extending the fixed-term employment contracts of its Delhi-based flight attendants".
The statement further said that Indian cabin crew with unlimited contracts remain unaffected from restructuring as it "was able to reach individual agreements with these flight attendants".
In June 2020, Lufthansa which had come close to being grounded was saved by the German government with a $10.1 billion bailout.
The airline said that since it is still burning several hundred million euros every month, Lufthansa must take steps to secure its future.
Exhausted every possible option
"We exhausted every possible option and had even already reached an agreement with the Indian union we were in close consultation at all times. It would have avoided compulsory redundancies for our cabin staff.
"We had signed an agreement with the Indian union providing for two years of unpaid leave, with Lufthansa continuing to provide the local health insurance “even for enrolled family members," the statement said.
But according to those whose services have been terminated, it happened overnight, without serving any prior notice to them, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
"These terminations happened overnight without giving any prior notice. Some of these terminated people had been employed for nearly 15 years... The management had wanted us to proceed on leave without pay for two years. We had agreed for it but wanted job assurance after the completion of the LWP period," one of them said.
They have now taken their former employer to the Central Government Industrial Tribunal under the Industrial Disputes Act.
