Warning to all Lufthansa passengers this summer. Lufthansa may go on strike.

http://tinyurl.com/6qg4xu

In our local paper, it was reported that "Swiss" flights will not be affected.

It will not be a real strike, because the staff of Lufthansa is organized in several unions. Only one union might eventually start a strike and this strike will involve only a small minority of employees, mostly ground staff.

These employees can easily be replaced by other ones, thus a strike would hardly affect schedules. Maybe a few delays and cancellations can occur on one or two days, but certainly nothing serious.

My family is booked on a LH flight to London next weekend, and we will not change our travel plans.

What a relief, I'm flying Lufthansa & United in August. Why is VERDI involved in every strike & protest. Is VERDI a super large public service workers union? I'm trying to understand what it is exactly.

Why would a bunch of people go on strike if it has no measurable affect on operations?

Yes, VER.DI is a super large service workers union.

VER.DI means "Vereinte Dienstleistungen" - united services - and has 2.2 million members.

However, the vast majority of cabin staff is organized in UFO (Unabhängige Flugbegleiter-Organisation), while the pilots are organized in a union named "Cockpit".

VER.DI is only strong among ground staff - but this can easily be replaced.

So, a strike won't be too effective. But there would be pinpricks - already the threat of a strike will make millions of customers book flights on other airlines or travel by train.

The earliest possible date for a strike would be 25 July. VER.DI needs the time to organize a strike ballot (the start on Tuesday and it will take 10 days).

Strike has been announced for 22:00 on this Sunday, and to continue indefinitely:

http://tinyurl.com/6fw8wd