All articles

Germany: Volkswagen’s central WC wants to negotiate with Tennessee’s Republican officials to set up a WC in Chattanooga
Bernd Osterloh, head of Volkswagen’s central WC, has revealed the strategy and schedule he wants to follow to secure the election of a works council in the American plant of Chattanooga...
Italy: high turnout at the general strike against Indesit’s restructuring plan
A lot of workers joined the national 8-hour strike organized on July 12 in Fabriano (Marche), where Indesit Company has its headquarters, against the group’s restructuring plan, which provides for...
Luxembourg: new memorandum of understanding in construction
The social partners in the Luxembourg construction industry are finally out of the deadlock their collective agreement was in.  the approximately 14,000 construction workers didn’t have a...
Mexico: from 2013 on, labor cost is cheaper than in China
Several recent studies show that Mexico is becoming more competitive than China as far as labor cost is concerned.  Ten years ago, Mexican wages were still 3 times higher than in China in the...
Italy: Menarini group adopts solidarity contracts for medical representatives
On July 9, after bargaining for more than a year, Menarini Group – the largest pharmaceutical group in Italy – signed an agreement with its RSUs and the Femca-Cisl, Filctem-CGIL and Uiltec-UIL...
Belgium: government prepares review of mass layoff act
In May and June, in the Chamber’s social affairs taskforce, MPs made audits and exchanged views on the Renault Act which, since 1998, has been defining information and consultation procedures...
15 July 2013
Germany: Federal Labor Court forbids unlimited employment of agency workers
On July 10, the Federal Labor Court (BAG) issued a decree giving satisfaction to the WC of a company that had refused to give its consent to the recruitment of a temporary worker without a time...
15 July 2013
Great Britain: annual CAC report on statutory union recognition procedures
In the annual report of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), the body which administers the statutory union recognition procedure, applications for union recognition increased to 54 in...
France: new agreement introduces “interim permanent contract”
The CFDT, CFE-CGC and CFTC said they were going to sign the agreement on secure professional paths for agency workers negotiated with the temporary employers’ organization, Prism’emploi.  The CGT...
11 July 2013
Renault: HR agencies for employee-customers
Renault made a small revolution at the end of 2011 in the HR organization of its engineering and service undertakings in the Paris area (16,900 employees).  Employees and managers used to complain...
11 July 2013
Germany: doubts raised in 13 Lander as to the conformity of laws that condition the award of public contracts to compliance with minimum social and pay standards
The battle around minimum wage, one of the central themes in the election campaign, goes on at regional level.  On August 1, the Land of Schleswig-Holstein will introduce the obligations to pay...
Italy: social partners in local public transport sign agreement establishing joint solidarity fund
The social partners in local public transport signed an agreement establishing a joint solidarity fund designed to “accompany” restructuring/reorganizing procedures in public and private companies...
Great Britain: Labour leader Ed Miliband wants to reduce union influence in his party
Following weeks of political turbulence for Labour as a result of the alleged actions of affiliate, the Unite union, to make sure that a large number of its members would be selected as Labour...
Gap, Walmart and 15 other retailers unveil safety plan for textile workers in Bangladesh
Gap, Walmart and 15 other American retails took a month to improve their proposals on the safety of textile workers in Bangladesh, following the accident that took place in April, and they...
11 July 2013
Austria: trade sector negotiates work on Saturday in exchange for “super weekends”
The Commission set up earlier this year by the trade social partners to negotiate the issue of allowing work on Saturday presented, on Monday, July 8 in Vienna, a compromise which makes both...
European Union uses trade advantages as incentive to get the Bengali government to improve labor rights
The Rana Plaza tragedy, with a building collapsing near Daka killing nearly 1,100 employees working for textile subcontractors operating for European and American companies, is probably going to...
10 July 2013
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
Germany: pensioners in work already common practice, study shows
As the German government steps up measures to encourage people to stay in work beyond the legal retirement age, a new study by the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) – an independent...
2
Spain: government approves creation of ‘intern status’
The Spanish government has paved the way for the creation of a new status for "persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies, institutions or public or private organisations...
3
France: social conference on labour and pensions to proceed without main employers’ group
The preparatory meeting ahead of the social conference on labour and pensions, which is set to decide on the pension system model and the funding thereof, was held on 4 November at France's labour...
4
Luxembourg: two pension reform bills submitted to parliament
After lengthy negotiations with the social partners, in mid-October the Luxembourg government submitted two bills to parliament aimed at reforming the pension system to ensure its long-term...
5
Germany: bill adopted to step up fight against illegal employment
On Thursday 13 November, Germany's Bundestag passed a bill to modernise and digitalise the country’s system for tackling undeclared work and financial crime. In future, the relevant department at...
6
France: TotalEnergies steps up commitment on disability
On 9 October, French energy group TotalEnergies and all representative trade unions signed a new four-year agreement on disability inclusion. Taking effect on 1 January 2026, the deal aims to help...