Lufthansa cabin staff to strike Friday: union

Cabin staff at German airline Lufthansa will stage walkouts in Frankfurt from 0300 GMT on Friday, AFP reports citing their union. The walkouts would last until 1100 GMT, the UFO labour union said. Earlier the union said in a message to staff on its website that Friday would be the "first day when the strike will take effect" but did not specify times or locations. Unions had held off from taking strike action while last-ditch wage negotiations were still under way, but with no breakthrough in the deadlocked talks overnight Monday, the UFO labour union declared the negotiations as failed and called for immediate walkouts. Extended industrial action could prove costly for the airline, which already faces strong headwinds from rising fuel prices and fierce competition. The union is seeking a 5.0-percent pay increase for cabin staff for 15 months starting from January this year after three years of zero increases. It is also opposed to the use of temporary cabin staff in Lufthansa aircraft. Lufthansa's latest offer was for a pay increase of around 3.5 percent.