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Spain: unions reject flexible hours demanded by superstores
Employers launched consultation period.  A few days ago, the national court issued a ruling giving unions satisfaction and forcing superstores to recognize the right to weekly rest, at the rate of...
Norway: new pay system for cargo carriers
On June 11, NHO Transport (Norwegian transport firms) and Norges Lastebileier-Forbund (the Norwegian Haulers' Association) on the one hand and the Transportarbeiderforbund (Transport Workers) and...
Spain: labor reform permanently adopted
The Parliament permanently adopted the new “Emergency Act for the Reform of the Labor Market,” with the support of the people’s party and of the Catalonian (CiU) and Basque (PNV) nationalist...
Great Britain: Unison and GMB unions get closer before merger
Combining the membership of the second and third biggest unions will easily outstrip that of Unite which is currently the biggest union with 1,414,000 members. The new alliance between Unison and...
United States: Americans keep new health care law
Obamacare, the nickname given to the health insurance system voted in the US in 2010 (see our dispatch No. 100249), passed the Supreme Court test. The judges in charge of the case at the request...
Italy: permanent adoption of the labor market reform
Prime Minister Mario Monti did it.  On June 28, he went to the European summit with the labor market reform approved (see our dispatch No.  120227).  Meanwhile, Labor Minister Elsa Fornero gave an...
Germany: IG-Metall union sends anti-stress draft regulation to government
With soaring sick leaves with mental causes, the IG-Metall metalworkers' union once again called on Ursula von der Leyen, CDU Minister of Employment, to adapt the legal framework to new labor...
France: CSR criteria in the new 2012-2014 profit-sharing agreement at La Poste
Quality of life.  Like the previous agreement, this agreement will apply to all Post workers regardless of their function, “thus giving full meaning to the concept of fair distribution and...
Germany: Siemens gives up to EUR 500 a month to come back to work after childbirth
A typically German issue.  For several months, a political/cultural trial of strength has been dividing the German government and the two parties to the conservative union – Merkel’s...
Great Britain: Unite creates GBP25m strike fund
While this is a significant development for the future, it was also disclosed that Unite under new general secretary, Len McCluskey, had spent between £3m-£5m on industrial disputes in the last...
Netherlands: the DNV (former FNV) announces social turmoil in September
The former FNV, renamed De Nieuwe Vakbeweging (DNV, new federation) on June 23, is getting ready for social unrest in September. With the legislative elections approaching (September 12), it has...
United States: new contract between machinists’ union and Lockheed Martin
After over two months on strikes, the association of machinists at Lockheed Martin accepted a two-tier pension system in Forth Worth, Texas. The management of Lockheed Martin and the...
Germany: Verdi union gets better working and pay conditions for the employees of Deutsche Bank’s subsidiaries
More time off, more money and a shorter workweek.  Verdi claims that about 2,000 employees from 5 Deutsche Bahn service companies – PBC Services GmbH (account management), Kredit Service GmbH...
United States: Supreme Court defends employees’ rights to not pay for unions’ political activities
In the United States, in businesses covered by a collective agreement, employers and unions may decide to impose a union (closed or union shop) or, without forcing them to join, having them take...
Walmart: new union alliance on the African continent
On June 19-20, in Johannesburg, South Africa, UNI Global Union launched the UNI Africa Walmart Union Alliance. Unions are denouncing an expansion strategy that is detrimental to local employment...
EU: interview of Alejandro Cercas, Member of the European Parliament and author of the legislative initiative report on restructurings
Alejandro Cercas. We used a new article of the Lisbon Treaty, article 225. Before that, the Parliament couldn’t take an initiative and we could only give opinion on the European Commission’s. The...
25 June 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
France: Decathlon introduces a ‘duty to respect others’ right to disconnect’
A right-to-disconnect agreement was signed in late September for the French arm of the Decathlon sports retail group. It sets out a "duty to respect others’ right to disconnect" and provides...
14 November 2025
2
Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
3
United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
4
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
5
Italy: new collective agreement for managers in tertiary sector
On 5 November, the ManagerItalia union and the employers’ association Confcommercio renewed the collective agreement for managers in Italy’s tertiary, distribution and services...
6
France: Adecco steps up commitment to temporary workers with disabilities
On 9 September, temporary work agency Adecco France and representative trade unions signed a new open-ended agreement to support the recruitment and retention of temporary workers with...
18 November 2025