Thinking one labeled "STRIKES" might be helpful, to provide 'one stop shopping' to find out what dangers lurk regarding stuff being closed or not operating.
I doubt the webmaster wants to referee the debate on labor vs. management, so am not expecting it to happen.
Just noticed how littered the Forum is with "upcoming strike" posts
This is a sad post that there’s even so many notices that a Strike category would be considered! As Pam said in a recent post, Yuck! LOL! Personally, if I’m close to traveling or during a trip, I would be looking at the recent posts in the specific country(s) categories for strike info.
Knock on wood, I’ve only run into two strikes during all of my trips. The first was a bus strike when my husband & I needed to take a bus from Trento to Moena, Italy. I could read enough Italian on the posted notice in the station to decipher we were going to have a story by the time we reached Moena. At one point, my husband was conversing with two older Italian gentleman outside the bus station for 15 minutes. I was really impressed because he doesn’t know any Italian! When he walked back, I asked him what he found out. He said, “I have no idea what they were saying!” We eventually boarded a bus going to Moena and all was good.
The second time was last June. The train strike affected my plan to go from Pisa to Spello. Fortunately Plan B gave me an early day in Rome and the next day I was at Spello before noon.
Unfortunately the subject of upcoming strikes needs to be mentioned for those that might be affected by such labor actions.
It's best to have a Plan B just in case plans need to be modified.
Since many, many strike notifications never develop into strikes, but are a negotiation tool, this category would spread unnecessary panic.
Maybe some information on how to deal with possible strikes rather than panic would be more useful. These are turbulent times.
We have two calls for strikes for our upcoming Christmas trip, the day we leave and the day we return. Will it actually happen?
I think this is valuable information and I appreciate seeing it. I dont know where else I would go to find out. Even the potential for a strike is good to know.
During our Dec, 2019 Xmas markets trip, I never knew to check for labor strike updates. We were having dinner in Strasbourg and the woman at the next table mentioned the upcoming strike. That was a big one, involving planes, trains, buses, etc., and set for the day we were scheduled to leave France for Stuttgart- mind blowing! The hotel had no advice, but lucky Mark, with Our VinoWines tour guide (and owner), had a practical solution: take a taxi to the Kehl, Germany, train station three miles away. (I have no idea why our hotel didn't suggest that.) In fact, we then realized we could walk three miles if the taxi didn't show up. However, the taxi arrived early, didn't inflate prices, and travel from Kehl to Stuttgart was smooth. We were even interviewed at the Kehl train station by local reporters about the effect of the strike on travelers.
I learned a valuable lesson that trip- always check for strikes! The one that affected us was publicized at least six weeks in advance.
Safe travels!
Joe is usually right about things but I don't think a "Strikes" topic would be very useful.
First, as he suggests, it could easily deflect into discussions of labor-management issues, in general or as related to particular strikes or potential strikes.
Second, the most useful place for warnings about possible strikes is on the boards for the countries affected. For example, Nigel is very conscientious about posting these for England, and some of our friends who live in France keep us informed the same way. If I'm planning a trip to a particular country, I try to keep up with posts relating to it so I'll know about strike risks, closures, maybe weather issues, anything that might affect my plans or my trip. A generalized "Strikes" forum would be another place to look, often unproductively, for something that might affect my trip. Might as well have a "Closures" forum or a "Weather" forum or a "Civil Disorder" forum, the list goes on.
