☰

Empresas y finanzas

Strikes loom after talks between Lufthansa and pilots fail


    FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Talks between Lufthansa and pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit on entering mediation have failed, raising the prospect of strikes at the height of the summer travel season, the union said on Monday.

    Lufthansa and its pilots have been trying to agree a mediation process to bring to an end a long-running pay dispute that has seen a over a dozen costly pilot strikes since April 2014.

    The union wants the mediation to cover all the areas of dispute with the company. Lufthansa had said the expansion of its Eurowings low-cost brand is not up for discussion.

    The union said it would now discuss the failed mediation and that an agreement to hold off on strikes until the end of July was no longer valid now that the mediation process had failed.

    "A new escalation of the dispute has therefore become more likely," the union said in a statement.

    A spokesman for Lufthansa said the company regretted the move by the union and called on the pilots to re-enter talks.

    (Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Kirsti Knolle and Louise Heavens)