All articles

Germany: an ‘employers’ study concludes that trade unions have indeed made a comeback
Since the financial crisis back in 2006, German trade unions have extended both their presence in German companies and their political influence at national level. They are now reconciled with...
Great Britain: significant agreement over industrial relations at Royal Mail
Barely a year after signing a landmark agreement in February 2014, both the privatized British postal delivery group Royal Mail and the CWU union appear, in Lionel Sampson’s (CWU) words, to have...
Germany: digitization is a massive challenge facing HR units (feedback from the German Association for Personnel Management congress)
How is the rapid rise in digitization changing business models and value chains? What is the impact on how work is organized? What is HR’s role in the face of the challenges that the digital...
Great Britain: the GMB succeeds in signing more new union recognition agreements
Data shows that unions continue to sign new recognition agreements and gain new representation and bargaining rights for their members. Even if the actual number of signed agreements is lower than...
Germany: another setback for the draft law on occupational health and safety
The new workplace law (Arbeitsstätteverordnung) will not come into force as scheduled on March 01, 2013. The German press reported severe criticism by business leaders that pressured the...
2 March 2015
Nordea: together with the four Nordic unions, employees from the Polish subsidiary establish a new union in Poland
Union cooperation in Nordea has contributed to a new union for employees of the group’s Polish subsidiary, who had up until now been only lightly unionized. The underlying objective is to...
United States: Silicon Valley bus drivers unionize
Silicon Valley’s support workers are joining forces. Shuttle bus drivers for Apple, Yahoo, Ebay, Zynga, Genetech, and Amtrak have voted for representation by Teamsters Local 853 with a view to...
Allianz SE: revision to the employee participation agreement
On July 03, 2014 an agreement revising an earlier one (2006) covering employee participation in the Allianz insurance company was signed during the SE works council meeting. The progress of...
27 February 2015
Switzerland: extended working hours are ‘negotiated’ in response to the soaring Swiss franc
On January 15, 2015 the Swiss central bank lifted its cap on the Swiss Franc leading to a soaring currency. As a result more and more Swiss businesses, for the most part industrial exporters, have...
27 February 2015
ILO: employers and unions settle the dispute over the right to strike
Following three days of talks that ended on February 25, the ITUC announced that an agreement had been concluded between representatives of both unions and employers about the right to strike...
26 February 2015
France: the Prime Minister presents the main points of reforms to social dialogue in businesses as well as the 2015 Social Agenda.
As announced after the social partners failed to agree on personnel representation bodies, the government is stepping in to “fully assume its responsibilities” and at the end of March/beginning of...
26 February 2015
Great Britain: firms are using a record 1.8 million zero-hours contracts
According to statistics from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) August 2014 saw firms reaching yet another record high in zero-hours contracts – they do not guarantee a minimum number of...
26 February 2015
Greece: Alexis Tsipras’ government’s list of reforms is approved by the Eurozone finance ministers
The Greek Minister for finance,Yanis Varoufakis detailed on six pages the reforms his government intended to implement. The list of reforms in exchange for an extension of financial aid was...
25 February 2015
Spain: unease within the CCOO over remuneration in the confederation’s financial services section
After the Spanish daily paper revealed a system of supplementary financial payments made to leaders and delegates in the financial services section of the COMFIA CCOO, the confederation has...
25 February 2015
Elgiganten: the Scandinavian electronics chain obliges its transporters to comply with Scandinavian collective agreements
Elgiganten, a leader in the Swedish electronics market has concluded an agreement with 10 Nordic transport companies that carry their goods and it obliges the transport company drivers to be...
25 February 2015
Brazil: an unprecedented social crisis in the automobile industry
On February 20, almost 5,200 workers at the General Motors Co. factory, in Campos near Sāo Paulo, paralyzed production by downing tools in protest at GM’s proposal to layoff 800 workers. The...
25 February 2015
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
2
Germany: government seeks to facilitate immigration of skilled Indian workers
During a visit to India earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the strategic importance of attracting Indian workers to Germany, signing a series of cooperation agreements...
3
Informal economy and slow wage growth hamper decent work, ILO says
The International Labour Organisation published its Employment ans Social Trends 2026 on 14 January. It anticipates unemployment stabilising in 2026 and employment growth of 1%, driven by...