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Germany: GDL train drivers’ union signs company agreement with SBB Cargo Deutschland rail company
A company agreement more advantageous than the federal framework agreement.  According to the GDL, SBB Cargo Deutschland opened the debate by saying that the company agreement had to be based on...
EU: new team at the head of the European Trade Union Confederation
General secretary and deputy general secretaries.  Bernadette Ségol has been a part of European and international trade unionism since 1975, at first at the International Textile Federation...
Denmark: historical agreement on the pension reform
After long and tough negotiations, with the Danish People’s Party securing increased border controls, the government managed, on may 13th, to conclude an agreement reforming the pension system...
Belgium: report on negotiations in the metal industry
Metal construction.  Metal construction (CP 111) is the biggest sector in the metal industry.  The equal committee (CP) notably includes aeronautics, metal construction or even the auto industry. ...
Great Britain: consultation on new shared parental leave and the extension of flexible working
Parental leave.  Amend rigid regulations to give more flexibility to employees who become parents: that is the government’s goal.  Here are the proposals: once the first weeks of maternity and...
Romania: European Commission demands changes to the new Labor Code
Fall at the latest.  Hardly enforced, the new Romanian Labor Code already needs to be changed.  Indeed, the European Commission, which carefully looked at the provisions contained in the new...
Spain: CCOO define guidelines for the future
The text presented to the union’s federal council by Ignacio Fernandez Toxo was approved by 139 votes for and 16 abstentions on May 12th.  Key points Toxo mentioned included information about the...
Poland: Ministry of Labor says action plan for senior employment is bearing fruit
The government’s flagship program, “Generational solidarity – action plan to increase the professional activity of people over 50”, was adopted in October 2008 (see our dispatch No.  080365).  It...
EU: 12th ETUC Congress matches European trade union solidarity against governments’ national withdrawal
Solidarity and future ETUC role.  As Workers’ Commissions’ Javier Doz summed up, “Europe is distressed with the rise of nationalism but it doesn’t seem to affect the union movement.”  And this was...
Great Britain: end of the dispute between British Airways and the Unite union
The dispute began in 2009 over the imposition of cuts to cabin crew staffing levels. The union opposed both the cuts and their unilateral imposition. Despite the initial gaining of an injunction...
Italy: decree on early retirement for work hardness published in the Official Journal
Novelties.  The new regulations determine the list of hard jobs which include, among other things, night work in some circumstances*, work in narrow spaces, in galleries, mines, high temperatures...
Sodexo: mass catering company and SEIU union settle accounts through legal action
SEIU action.  The case brought to the NLRB concerns events that took place in February and May 2010 in the kitchens of the Tulane and Loyola universities, when SEIU representatives were trying to...
Spain: wage cuts and mobility, first pitfalls in the negotiations for the new collective agreement in the savings bank industry
With the current inflation forecasts, employers’ offer would mean a 1% pay cut as of 2011, which would have repercussions on the following years.  Union representatives said this offer was...
Denmark: removal of the 30-year limit between exposure to dangerous substances and the signs of occupational diseases for compensation requests
“We worked for the removal of this unfair limit to the compensation of occupational diseases.  We succeeded, solely because of the massive pressure we, LO and other union put on the government.” ...
Italy: Inail’s occupational medicine department publishes “White Paper on exposure to nanomaterials and their impact on workers’ health and safety”
In Italy, nearly 200 structures (57% public and 43% private) are engaged in R&D for nanotechnologies.  In 2008, around 670,000 people were said to be working in microelectronics, chemistry...
United States: rebirth for the National Labor Relations Board
The amendment passed in Arizona recognizes only secret ballot elections as the means for representation elections and prohibits a process known as “card check” with which a majority of employees...
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
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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...
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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