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Great Britain: more and more conflicts over pension schemes
008, businesses have been amending their pension schemes (closing defined benefit pensions schemes to new entrants, reforming final salary schemes…) without employees resisting much. After...
Germany: Volkswagen bans professional emails outside of working hours
No work emails between 6:150pm and 7am.  A few years ago, BlackBerries – portable devices to read and write emails – were, like company cars, a symbol of social status between managers.  Now, they...
2 January 2012
Netherlands: cleaning agents on strike
Negotiations for the next collective agreement covering cleaning agents are at a standstill: unions fixed an ultimatum on January 1 for the OSB employers’ organization to accept their conditions. ...
Italy: separate collective agreement in the automotive sector based on Fiat’s “Pomigliano model”
In order to convince Fiat to return to Confindustria, Federmeccanica for employers and the Fim-Cisl, Uilm-Uil, Fismic and UGLM-UGL unions signed a separate agreement, on December 22, on "special...
Spain: Seat signs draft agreement linking pay to productivity
er, Seat (Volkswagen group) and the UGT union, which represents a majority of workers in the company, signed an agreement in principle on the new collective agreement 2011-2015. For the first...
Germany: new measures in force since January 1, 2012
and Social Affairs detailed the new measures that came into force on January 1, 2012 in the fields of employment policy, labor law and pensions. Planet Labor is detailing the key changes. (Ref...
Denmark: businesses relocating to Denmark bank on the Scandinavian working culture
the magazine published by the Fødevareforbundet NNF food workers’ union dedicated 12 pages to businesses in the sector relocating the greater part of their production to Denmark...
23 December 2011
Italy: Parliament permanently approves the Monti administration’s austerity program
Compared with the decree of December 6 (see our dispatch No.  110750), the Parliament committees have added several amendments.  The “exceptional adjustments” for the standards affecting labor...
Denmark: Parliament permanently approves pension reform
Planet Labor, December 22, 2011, No.  110799 – www.planetlabor.com
Brazil: Zara strikes deal with Brazilian court following the slavery scandal
ant is going to invest EUR 1.4 million in Brazil to prevent slave labor in the textile industry, by virtue of the agreement signed with the Brazilian labor prosecution. In doing so, the Court is...
22 December 2011
Luxembourg: in the absence of an agreement between the social partners, the government announces the temporary review of wage indexation
uxembourg’s Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, decided to adapt the indexation of wages on inflation. Over the next three years, only an index bracket will be paid annually, in October...
Italy: union unity stronger because of concerns over Mario Monti’s labor reform
erations are tightening their ranks after the Minister of Labor announced the possibility of reviewing Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute which provides that employers have to re-hire any...
Germany: for the first time, the temporary sector is setting up sectoral minimum wage
kel administration introduced, on December 20, via a decree, sectoral minimum wage in the temporary sector. Starting on January 1, 2012, the sector’s approximately 900,000 employees will...
Portugal: creation of a new service confederation to boost employers’ representation
ese Services (CSP) created a group with the major employers’ organizations in the service, retail and telecom industry. The new confederation represents 20 percent of the country’s GDP...
Austria: average 3.65 percent increase in computer services
rtners in the Austrian computing industry agreed on an average 3.65 percent wage increase for the sector’s 40,000 employees on January 1, 2012. The lowest wages will get a 4.1 percent...
Italy: unitary transport strike blocks Italy once again
After a successful strike last spring (see our dispatch No.  110225), Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugltrasporti, Orsa, Faisa-Cisal and Fast did it again on December 15-16.  They claim the...
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1
France: Medef puts forward proposals to improve management quality
On 31 August, Medef, French main employers' organisation, published a practical guide to managerial skills, which it considers to be a driver of economic performance for businesses. Concerned by...
2
AI: uneven integration but a global challenge for the world of work
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in business is profoundly transforming the world of work, and some occupations are now under threat. However, the full extent of its effects remains...
3
France: Ministry of Labour unveils plan to accelerate the rollout of AI
On 22 September, the French Ministry of Labour presented a plan named Impulsion IA 2027 aimed at accelerating the adoption of AI by companies and employees. It contains 12 measures applicable from...
4
Germany: AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt raises concerns over labour supply and workplace cohesion
The rise of Germany’s far-right AfD, which could soon gain influence over migration policy in Saxony-Anhalt and, following elections on September 20, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as well, is...
5
Netherlands: towards a ban on housing cost deductions from migrant workers’ wages
The news. On September 10, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Hans Vijlbrief (centre-left) sent a letter to the House of Representatives, stating that he intends to prohibit employers...
6
UE: Commission proposes measures to facilitate “fair” worker mobility across the Union
The info. On 15 September, the European Commission adopted a series of measures aimed at encouraging “fair” worker mobility within the EU. It wants to remove the administrative...