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FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) – Even if the federal government spends billions to save Lufthansa, from a union perspective it does not necessarily have to be able to exert influence. “The state does not have to be on the board,” said Nicoley Baublies, representative of the UFO union (independent organization of flight attendants), the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “The conditions for state loans can also be regulated contractually,” said the union member, who was on the airline’s control committee until early 2018 and was previously the head of the UFO. “State representatives on the Supervisory Board offer no added value in operational business,” said Baublies.
The UFO representative, who is otherwise considered a harsh critic of Carsten Spohr, supports the opinion of the Lufthansa boss. Spohr had spoken out against the state that had a say in business operations as a condition for billions of taxes.
For Baublies, Spohr faces a negotiating dilemma in ongoing talks about saving the airline. On the one hand, warned of empty coffers, and on the other hand, Spohr wanted to profile himself as an independent corporate leader, who could also help him against the state if necessary. Due to numerous unanswered questions, Baublies does not expect an agreement with the Lufthansa Group’s four countries of origin, that is, with Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, until mid-May.
Lufthansa CEO Spohr has internally put the capital requirement at a “high one-billion-digit amount,” the newspaper continues. Germany is said to want to take a 25 percent stake in the capital and demand a seat on the supervisory board.
Contact the author: [email protected] DJG / cln
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 02, 2020 10:41 ET (14:41 GMT)
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