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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
Italy: Rome Court sentences Fiat to reinstate 145 Fiom-CGIL members in Pomigliano plant
Since none of its members were reinstated, the Fiom sued Fabbrica Italia Pomigliano (Fip), Fiat's newco managing the plant in Campania, for discrimination. The Court gave the union satisfaction...
Italy: General signs groundbreaking agreement on employment protection
The text is made up of four chapters.  The first lays down the ground principle: Italian jobs will be maintained and the group commits not to appeal to compulsory redundancies if jobs need to be...
Spain: FITEQA-CCOO general secretary talks about the company agreement at Adolfo Dominguez cutting pay to save jobs
Joaquim González Muntadas.  I wanted to show the extremely difficult situation businesses, unions and employees are in.  It is true that it isn’t common for unions to point to the value of...
Great Britain: success for London bus drivers
After a number of last minute developments, the one-day strike by bus drivers across London did go ahead on Friday 22 June. These developments included money being made available to meet the bus...
Corporate practices: ThyssenKrupp steel cuts working time to hire 1,000 apprentices and have younger manpower
Chain restructurings.  “Up to 2006, we were mostly concerned with one thing: how can we cut jobs?” explains Veit Echterhoff, in charge of training policy at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG.  And for...
25 June 2012
Netherlands: coming negotiations on the “quality” of employees relations at Ikea
Ikea’s Dutch employees will get a 2 percent wage increase.  Ikea was founded in Sweden but the headquarters are in Delft, Netherlands.  The increase will come into force on October 1, 2012, at the...
Great Britain: government launches consultation to shorten collective redundancies procedures
Reducing the 90-day period.  Currently, for planned redundancies of 100 or more employees, employees have to consult their employees for a minimum of 90 days.  Judging that this measure is too...
EU: new decree on the right to postpone annual leave when it overlaps with sick leave for incapacity for work
The conflict burst out because of the difference in the interpretation of superstores’ collective agreement 2009-10 in Spain by the trade unions, which ended up turning to the ECJ with the...
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
Italy: Enel signs agreement to manage the effects of AI on work
An agreement signed at the end of July by the electricity company Enel (31,000 employees) and the unions Filctem-Cgil, Flaei-Cisl, and Uiltec is pioneering in the Italian energy sector. It aims to...
7 September 2026
2
Italy: artificial Intelligence on the menu of Barilla’s new company agreement
Prior consultation with trade unions on innovations related to artificial intelligence, strengthened training, and progress on parenthood: these are the main new features of the agreement signed...
2 September 2026
3
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
4
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
5
EU: insurance sector social partners commit to addressing violence and harassment at work
The news. The trade union UNI Europa Finance and the employers’ federations Insurance Europe, Amice and Bipar signed an addendum to their 2022 joint declaration on diversity and inclusion on...
18 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026