All articles

United States: Siemens plant blamed for union busting a few weeks after signing an international framework agreement
Just like T-Mobile USA – Deutsche Telekom’s American subsidiary, see our dispatch No.  120403 –, the management of a Siemens unit in the US is being accused of antiunion practices.  A few days...
Italy: GDF Suez Energia Italia Spa and unions sign new IR protocol
On the one hand, a “more and more technically sophisticated market, the unruliness of the energy market and the increase in competitive pressure.”  On the other, the process of integrating the...
Germany: Verdi and police unions fight in the airport safety sector
Verdi says security agents aren’t police.  “They’re liars, crooks!”  Andreas Sander, chief negotiator in the aircraft industry for Verdi, doesn’t mince his words when describing the way the German...
Carlsberg: LO union and the company sign cooperation agreement to improve the conditions of beer developers in Cambodia
Indeed, since 2006, Carlsberg has been working with Cambrew, in partner in the Cambodian joint venture, and with NGOs such as Care International Cambodia – whose report on the conditions of beer...
29 August 2012
Italy: ENEL signs new industrial relations protocol
Goals and confrontation levels.  To face the market crisis and tighter competitiveness, the protocol is banking on strengthening a “constructive atmosphere” based on dialogue and mutual trust, in...
Germany: Ufo flight attendants union launches strike at Lufthansa
Coming back from a vacation might be tricky in Germany. On Tuesday, August 26, the small flying personnel union, Ufo, called on Lufthansa's 19,000 flight attendants to take part in strike action...
Great Britain: small unions are having a hard time influencing negotiations on public sector pensions
Unison members in England and Wales have voted 90.2% in favour of accepting the now revised changes to the LGPS following a ‘yes’ vote recommendation by their union leadership.  The revised...
Denmark: Labor Minister wanted to improve the psychological environment at work
Earlier this month, Labor Minister Mette Frederiksen, determined to see the number of workers affected by violence at work drop, presented three initiatives aiming to improve the psychological...
Corporate practices: at Daimler, work-life balance isn’t an all-female issue anymore
Somewhere between a changing table and the production hall.  The biggest heavyweight assembly plant in the world, Mercedes-Benz’s site in Wörth, North Rhine-Westphalia, spreads over 2.4000.000...
27 August 2012
Italy: operations at Ilva Tarente will resume if it gets up to date
The two ordinances, signed on July 26 by the judge for preliminary investigations of the Tarente Court, Patrizia Todisco, within the framework of the investigation on the “environmental disaster...
27 August 2012
Portugal: labor cost 10 percent higher than the average in the Euro zone
Portuguese competitiveness is slowly going up, the Central Bank of Portugal having published slightly decreasing unitary labor costs. However, it is still higher than the average in the rest of...
France: PSA Sevelnord agreement revives debate on competitiveness agreements
On July 12, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced 8,000 job cuts across the country and the closing of the Aulnay site (Seine-Saint-Denis), which employs 3,000 people.  For the Sevelnord plant in Hordain...
24 August 2012
Germany: 9,300 Opel staff on short-time working
6 percent net loss of income.  What a sad birthday!  On the brand’s 150th birthday – Opel was created on August 23, 1862 –, the company’s management announced, with unions’ consent, that it was...
24 August 2012
Great Britain: 2011 strike statistics released
The government has published its annual statistical analysis of strike activity for 2011, showing that nearly 1.4 million days were not worked as a result of 149 strikes involving 1.53m workers...
Italy: Manpower’s new group agreement improves work-life balance
Saying that unions had shown “true realism and responsibility” in the context of “deep” crisis in the sector – which has also affected American temporary work giants –, Cristian Sesena, Filcams...
Corporate practices: in Kaluga, Russia, Volkswagen is training its own apprentices
Lack of skilled workers.  170 kilometers south west of Moscow, at the gates of the city of Kaluga, is a 400-ha production site, Volkswagen Group Rus, Volkswagen’s Russian subsidiary.  Created in...
23 August 2012
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...