Lufthansa and the trade union Verdi agreed on a new collective wage agreement for the approximately 20,000 ground staff of Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Cargo and other companies. The wage agreement includes pay increases of around 12.5 percent in two steps, disproportionately in the lower and middle income groups. Lufthansa and Verdi have thus reached an agreement as part of the arbitration process with Thuringia's Minister President Bodo Ramelow and Dr. Frank-Jürgen Weise, the former head of the Federal Employment Agency, and have settled the wage dispute that has been ongoing since the beginning of the year.