Lufthansa employees set to return to work

Striking employees of the airline Lufthansa are expected to return to work after their union came to an agreement on wage increases with the company on 1 August 2008. The strike was launched on 28 July by the Ver.di trade union. Although the union was seeking raises of almost 10 percent, the new deal includes a staged increase, with 5.1 percent immediately and 2.3 percent as of 1 July 2009. Some disruptions to the airline's schedules could continue for up to two weeks due to the backlog of aircraft maintenance.