German airline Lufthansa and its cabin crew union agreed to mediation late Friday, after the biggest strike in the history of the company saw nearly 1,000 flights grounded, dpa reported. The UFO union is demanding better pay and job protection, in a long-running dispute which saw a total of three strikes in the past week. As the stoppage drew to a close, Lufthansa conceded one of the union's demands and the attendants' leader said both sides had agreed to appoint a mediator to help them bridge other differences. The chief of the UFO trade union, Nicoley Baublies, welcomed as “an important signal" the airline's afternoon announcement that it would cease outsourcing its cabin-crew work on domestic flights. He said no more stoppages were planned. Strikes during mediation are illegal under German labor law. There was no immediate indication if Lufthansa airliners would return to the air before midnight German time (2200 GMT) when the strike ends, but Lufthansa had earlier said it could not operate the jets at short notice.
