国际英语新闻：Lufthansa pilots start strike over job security

BERLIN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- German airline Lufthansa's pilots launched a four-day strike Monday, after talks on pay raise and job security failed over the weekend, which grounded about two- thirds of the company's flights, marking the biggest strike in Germany's aviation history.

More than 4,000 Deutsche Lufthansa pilots refused to work at midnight on Monday since no agreement were made after weekend negotiations between the airline and the pilots union, Vereinigung Cockpit. Nearly 90 percent of the company's pilots voted to strike.

At least 800 passenger and cargo flights were canceled on the first day of the strike, disrupting some 10,000 people's trip worldwide, Lufthansa officials said.

The company asked for a court injunction to halt the strike, estimating it would lose 25 million euros (34 million dollars) per day if pilots continue to walk off the job. A court in Frankfurt said that its ruling might be announced at Monday night.

"We don't believe (the court) will impose restrictions. We will present expert opinions that will back our claim the strike is justified," said a spokesman of the Cockpit.

Lufthansa pilots demanded a 6.4-percent pay raise, and a company's commitment that they will not be replaced as Lufthansa are hiring more and more cheap crews from affiliated airlines, such as Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa Italia.

The Europe's second largest airline by sales, which operates some 1,800 flights per day, have to change tickets or book hotels for stranded travelers. And some passengers resorted to railways or renting cars.

"We are still prepared to resume negotiations, without preconditions, but Vereinigung Cockpit needs to be prepared as well, to drop its catalog of demands, which cannot be fulfilled and is legally inadmissible," a Lufthansa spokeswoman said.

The German government reported earlier that the unemployment rate in January climbed to 8.2 percent, with 3.43 million people losing their jobs.

Germany had registered a five percent contraction in 2009 of the overall economy, the largest recession since world war II.