* Union calls news conference for Monday
* Lufthansa seeking to reduce costs
Lufthansa has offered its pilots in Germany mediation in a long-running row over pay, it said on Monday, as it seeks to avert more strikes.
‘We wrote this morning to union Vereinigung Cockpit to offer mediation and have proposed two mediators,’ a spokesman for Lufthansa said, adding the company had not yet received an answer.
Lufthansa is trying to reduce costs to deal with increased competition from low-cost carriers and leaner Gulf rivals and has managed to agree wide-ranging deals on pay and conditions with its main cabin crew and ground staff unions in Germany.
Talks for new contracts for 5,400 pilots at the Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings units have been ongoing for four years and have resulted in more than a dozen strikes at one of Europe's largest carriers.
Formal talks with pilots on a package covering a range of topics from pay, pensions and working conditions broke down earlier this year and the two sides instead agreed to discuss topics individually.
Vereinigung Cockpit has called a news conference for Monday at 1330 GMT, where it plans to offer more details of the status of negotiations.
