Lufthansa strike is cancelled

Lufthansa pilots have cancelled their planned strike action

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A strike planned for Thursday by Lufthansa pilots has been cancelled after their union agreed to go to arbitration.

Lufthansa had announced on Tuesday that talks with the pilots over pay had collapsed "despite intensive efforts."

It was the seventh round of negotiations between the two sides.

A spokeswoman said an arbitrator would be called in to try and settle the dispute.

The pilots subsequently accused the German airline of trying all along to get the talks before an arbitrator.

"Every move by VC ( the union negotiating team) towards a compromise was answered by Lufthansa management with a worsening of their offer," the union, Vereinigung Cockpit, said.

The union said it would give the arbitrator about a week to come up with a settlement proposal, which if acceptable, would be presented to the union membership for approval.

Germany has seen three strikes by Lufthansa pilots in the last three weeks.

The pilots' union "cockpit" or "command centre" had announced it would stage a 24-hour strike every Thursday until its demands were met. Earlier this week it also threatened additional unannounced walk-outs.

Last week Lufthansa had raised its previous offer of a 10.6 percent salary increase by 3 percent. It also offered the pilots profit-sharing and an annual average German salary increase.

But the pilots have demanded a 24 percent salary rise plus profit-sharing.