German Railways (DB) Strikes

GDL is the much smaller union too. EVG has also indicated it is considering strikes. Meanwhile the government considers a law banning multiple unions but which might prevail?

That's right Phil. According to the Wall Street Rupert, "Some 95% of 2009-2012 Income Gains Went to Wealthiest 1%"
That's not right. Why didn't us "job creators" get all 100%?

Rather than unions, wealth distribution, or other exotic topics, I hoped to discuss how travelers might handle the DB strike threat. Any thoughts?

The two unions we need to get rid of first are the CEOs union (Good Ole Boys' Club) and the Doctor's union (AMA).

Back on topic: Russ, thanks for the info! If January 11 is the date then we just dodged the bullet -- will be taking our last German train on the 10th and staying overnight at the airport for our flight home on the 11th. If there's any strike action earlier, however...
We'll be watching the news for updates.

This seems to be a bad year for transportation strikes in Germany. There was some kind of labor issue taking place at the time I transited through there in October, which caused my checked luggage to be "delayed" (even though there was LOTS of time to transfer it between flights). As I recall, the Lufthansa pilots have also been involved in some labour action over the last few months. The effect of these disruptions would no doubt be much worse if these were taking place in peak tourist season.

Regarding your question on how I'd handle the situation if I was affected? The answer would depend on the specific circumstances at the time including.....

• where I was at the time and where I wanted to go
• what other transportation options were available from those locations
• how easy it would be to stay a few extra days in one location and wait for the strike to end, so that I could carry on to my next destination

We have tickets in/out-of Munich in April. Our plan is a circular route through Franconia. I was careful to make hotel reservations that I could cancel without penalty. If the transportation looks uncertain, I would consider spending the majority of the trip in Munich. I believe the ubahns and trolleys will not be affected. We are pretty flexible when it comes to sights. My wife lived in Munich for 2 years as a college student and I am sure that she would not spending time there. I have started researching hotels there. Being in Germany is probably more important that specific sights to us.

Much of the appeal of traveling in Germany is the dependable transportation. Dependable transportation certainly figures to an even greater degree in the lives of many Germans. Lose that dependability, I suppose we might be reluctantly forced to make different vacation plans in the future. It might be killing the goose that lays the golden egg for Die Bahn and the unions.

"We have tickets in/out-of Munich in April."
Certainly hope they don't drag this out until then, Gary. Franconia is wonderful.
That's right, U-Bahn, tram and bus service within cities should not be affected by strike action against DB.
You bring up a good point about room reservations. Under German law, you're obligated to pay for any rooms you book and have no cancellation rights unless the business explicitly offers a cancellation policy. If you book 4 nights with no cancellation rights and strikes prevent your arrival, you still pay for those 4 nights - not just the first one as you might in the USA for a no-show.

One advantage of making reservations through hrs.com (and probably others) is that the cancellation policies are clearly stated and included in your email confirmation. If you need to cancel, the transaction is also made through hrs.com, rather than the hotel, and confirmed with an email. Additionally, the reservations that I made for April were reserved without a credit card.

A few folks on these travel boards have stated that they make multiple reservations for the same dates and then pick the one that they like best. I am careful not abuse the system like that. Such abuse is leading more hotels to requiring a credit card and charging a cancellation fee. It is nice to have the flexibility of free changes in reservations, should the need arise.

During the strikes earlier this year, privatized regional trains (ALX, Meridian, BOB, & Agilis in Bavaria) were running normally.

Update:
Latest word from both DB and the GDL is that good progress has been made. Both sides have agreed to a one-time payment to union members of €510 for July-December and a 1-hour reduction in weekly work hours (now 38.) There'll be more talks before year's end that will address 2015 conditions and the more difficult issue of which rail workers the GDL will be representing from here out.

Strikes are off the table for now; important issues are NOT yet resolved and strikes are NOT ruled out for early 2015, but there is more optimism on both sides than before that future strikes might be avoided.