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Great Britain: government allows large stores to open for more than six hours a day on Sunday during the Olympics
New Act.  Announced in the government’s 2012 budget, the new law provides that shops with a relevant floor area of more than 280 square meters will not be subject to current Sunday trading...
Germany: 6.5 percent increase for the 16,500 employees of Deutsche Telekom’s headquarters
6.5 percent increase over two years at DTAG.  It isn’t new for Deutsche Telekom but, over the past few years, collective bargaining has been dragging on and in the end subject to arbitration by a...
Ford: new international framework agreement
The communiqué released by the IMF points out that this agreement was signed after more than a year of talks.  In this agreement, which refers to international labor standards in terms of CST, the...
France: the absence of economic grounds does not render layoffs null
This decree by the social chamber of the Supreme Court was highly anticipated in the Viveo case, named after the company operating in software publishing, whose layoff procedure was canceled by...
International: ILO recommends better regulation of the global and European labor market
The report explains that there is a deficit of 50 million jobs in the world in comparison to the pre-crisis situation, and that a possible economic recovery will not be sufficient to make up for...
3 May 2012
Spain: social partners at PSA Vigo plant sign agreement supervising work on Saturday
This agreement, which will only last until December 31, 2012, comes 8 weeks after the signature of the new company agreement.  the site’s management was going to rely on the new Article 41 of the...
Portugal: UGT confederation calls for enforcement of the growth and employment chapter of the social dialogue agreement of January 2012
Social dialogue.  The UGT, the only union that signed the social dialogue agreement of January 18, 2012 (see our dispatch No.  120039), is denouncing the delay in the application of the agreement...
Italy: occupational safety culture is spreading
2,710 certificates of conformity to the OHSAS 18001 standard (which regulates the systems managing health and safety at work) were registered in February 2012, i.e. over 50 percent more than the...
Germany: IG-Metall starts warning strikes
The IG-Metall is full of energy.  This year, the IG-Metall sent employers a lot of claims.  The metalworkers’ union, which negotiates the wages of 3.6 million employees in the automotive...
Finland: social partners agree on immediate measures for pensions and unemployment insurance but create working committee for an in-depth reform in 2017
This short-term agreement was a last-minute answer to make sure that the government wouldn’t take legislative action to cut pensions – which would readjust public finances.  The negotiations had...
Colombia: Carrefour and the brand new UTCC union sign their first wage agreement
Result of an international framework agreement.  UNI Global, the international federation, said this agreement was “historic.”  “We hope this marks the start of a new era for trade union freedom...
Netherlands: budget agreement provides for more flexible layoff regulations and retirement at 66 as early as 2013
In 2013, at least €12 billion will be saved to bring the budgetary gap down to the European standard (3 percent, as opposed to 4.7 percent in 2011).  Without support from Geert Wilders’ right-wing...
France: new CSR and extra-financial reporting conditions in listed and private companies
The law of July 12, 2010, known as “Grenelle 2,” states that businesses of a certain size have to include extra-financial information to the board or supervisory board’s annual report and to give...
29 April 2012
United States: highest low-wage jobs rate, OECD says
A recent report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) on “Low-wage Lessons” reminds that “about one-fourth of U.S. workers [are] in low-wage jobs, defined as earning less than...
Brazil: 7,000 workers still on strike at the Belo Monte dam project even though court ruled it illegal
“Abusing the right to strike.”  The Heavy Construction Workers’ Union of Para (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Industrias da Construçao Pesada e Afins do Estado do Pará, SINTRAPAV) refused to obey...
Netherlands: FNV and Allies sues Albert Heijn supermarkets to reduce “flexible” staffing
Nearly 50 percent of the 3,000 of staff at the Albert Heijn retail centers are still precarious, according to the FNV and Allies.  These six centers supply the country’s 800 Albert Heijn...
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EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
2
Italy: collective agreement for rubber and plastics sector focuses on new skills
A month ahead of schedule, the Federazione Gomma Plastica employers' organisation and the Filctem-Cgil, Femca-Cisl and Uiltec trade unions have renewed the collective agreement for the rubber and...
5 January 2026
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France: social partner talks extend far beyond contractual terminations
After a false start on 3 December, French social partners resumed talks on 7 January 2026 on potential changes to the unemployment insurance agreement, including the rules governing compensation...
12 January 2026