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SURVEY

SURVEY: Are you planning to travel abroad this summer despite the pandemic?

Many international residents living around Europe are desperately hoping to be able to travel this summer. Please take a minute to complete a quick survey to let us know why you intend to travel and what complications you face.

Published: 26 May 2021 16:47 CEST
Updated: 29 May 2021 14:21 CEST
SURVEY: Are you planning to travel abroad this summer despite the pandemic?
(Photo by ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

International residents living in around Europe have for the most part been unable to travel abroad for over a year. 

For many this has meant being unable to see close family and friends back home.

Many are desperately hoping to travel this summer but with the rise of Covid-19 variants and ongoing restrictions at borders it is not clear whether they will be able to travel abroad.

Please take a minute to take part in this quick survey of readers. We will use the information and responses you provide for a future article on travel.

If the survey does not load below you can click here to start.

 

Member comments

  1. I just completed your survey and only after I submitted it did a message appear saying thatI consent for you to use my name. THIS FEELS ODDLY DISHONEST ON YOUR PRT. I WOULD NOT HAVE SUBMITTED HAD I KNOWN IN ADVANCE. I DO NOT CONSENT.PLEASE DO NOT USE MY NAME. PKEASE WITHDRAW MY SUBMISSION.

    1. Hi j.lovenduski, the article states just above the survey that “We will use the information and responses you provide for a future article on travel”. We won’t use your name without your consent and will withdraw your submission as requested. Have a good day!

  2. Sadly, I must agree with j.lovenduski. I was surprised to see that I had consented to the use of my name after I had submitted the survey. Had I been notified at the point my name was requested, I could have made an informed decision. As such, I refuse to consent to have my name being used. Please withdraw my submission.

  3. Mea culpa. I just read the introduction to the survey and I see that it clearly states that my name will be used.
    I apologize for the above comment. Feel free to use my survey and name.

    I think this is a very interesting and useful upcoming topic. I would be curious to learn the results of the survey.

    Cheers, Michael.D

    1. No worries, Michael! Thanks for responding to the survey – we’ll share the results in an article, hopefully soon. Have a great day!

  4. Of course I am going to travel . The only ones the French don’t want are the British . Brexit has come and bitten them on their bottoms . Oh Gawd the Empire really has crashed and I am an Old Etonian laughing my head off .

  5. Of course I am going to travel . The only ones the French don’t want are the British . Brexit has come and bitten them on their bottoms .

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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