On Monday, the union had announced fresh walkouts for Thursday and Friday, saying it hadn’t received an improved offer from Lufthansa. The cabin crew union had criticized Lufthansa for dictating the timing and agenda of the meetings.
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The German flag carrier said in a statement that the two sides had agreed on new ground rules in their dispute, including arbitration in the most contentious area of the negotiations: pay and retirement provisions.
Deutsche Lufthansa cabin crew called off a strike originally planned for later this week, a step toward ending a labor dispute that has already brought on the airline’s longest-ever disruption.
Earlier in November, the union went on strike for a week, causing the cancellation of 4,700 flights affecting some 550,000 passengers.
However, the union cautioned on Wednesday that further agreements on jobs needed to be achieved by that date in order to prevent further strikes.
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The union is demanding that the current system of early retirement provisions remain unchanged, while Lufthansa has argued that those measures are too expensive. The CEO is seeking to stave off Ryanair Holdings Plc and EasyJet Plc by developing Lufthansa’s Eurowings into a low-priced division.
