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EU: the Commission is tightening the net around national collective bargaining in the Twenty Seven
Pensions.  The recommendations published on June 7th are part of the European quarter introduced last year to face the economic and financial crisis.  Based on the national programs presented by...
France: government and social partners mobilize for youth employment
Currently, youth employment is the top priority of the government and social partners.  They are all working to find efficient solutions to facilitate young people’s access and stay in the...
Germany: interview of Horst Mund, head of the department of “international policy” of the IG-Metall union
Horst Mund.  My “international policy” department runs our activities abroad.  We directly advise Berthold Huber, leader of the IG-Metall and of the IMF (editor’s note: International Metalworkers’...
Germany: in energy, EON employees get a wage increase divided in two over 19 months
The outcome of the renewal of the collective agreements covering the 30,000 employees of the largest electricity provider in Germany, EON, as well as Tennet’s German employees, is far from the...
Great Britain: bitter end to the conflict for the employees of the Hull bio-ethanol plant
The Redhall workers refused to accept dismissal and mounted a campaign of action including daily mass protests at Saltend, blockades of the gates, a temporary occupation of the construction site...
United States: legal proceedings in the high tech industry because of illegal agreements on recruitment practices
Apple, Google, Pixar, Intuit, Intel, Adobe and LucasFilm are under the threat of a class action lawsuit initiated by a former LucasFilm employee, who is accusing them of having conspired to...
Denmark: new regulations to prevent violence at work
Replacing a text dating back to 1997, this new guide describes prevention of the risk of violence as continuous, systematic and mandatory work for the employer within his obligations to ensure...
Greece: three government proposals to make the labor market more flexible
Austerity and privatizations.  For the time being, the Eurogroup and the IMF gave the country a breath of fresh air, accepting to release the next bracket of the subsidy program (€12bn) in early...
Germany: Airbus employees are preparing strikes to limit appeal to agency workers and secure employment guarantee until 2020
Insufficient proposals and a “yellow card” for Thomas Enders; this is the message the IG-Metall, airbus Operations GmbH’s WC and German employees will send tomorrow, June 8th, to airbus management...
Great Britain: government threatens to regulate the right to strike if industrial action increases
Cable said: ‘We are undoubtedly entering a difficult period [of austerity and public spending cuts]. Cool heads will be required all round. Despite occasional blips, I know that strike levels...
Germany: 2nd largest IG-Metall regional federation wants to impose mandatory permanent recruitment of apprentices
Define the nature of industrial employment.  The region’s employers weren’t happy with the IG-Metall NRW’s announcement.  Indeed, Oliver Burkhard, tenacious leader of a regional union federation...
Italy: giving in to union pressure, Fincantieri withdraws restructuring plan
With intense mobilization showing unusual unity in Italy, unions asked for the removal of the 2011-2014 industrial plan Fincantieri revealed on May 23rd.  This plan provided for 2,551 job cuts –...
Spain: employers and unions break off talks on the reform of collective bargaining
Turnaround in the home run.  Employers and union representatives spoke at separate press conferences and blamed each other for the failure of talks.  Negotiations went off on Monday, May 30th...
Poland: the social partners are working on a model of policies against moral harassment at work for businesses
The existing law (article 94.1 of the Labor Code) imposes that employers prevent moral harassment at work.  However, legislation on the matter, quite recent, doesn’t give businesses the references...
Germany: court cancels all agreements negotiated by the Union of Christian Unions in the temporary industry (CGZP)
A union definitely out of the game.  The ruling issued last Monday by the Employment Tribunal of Berlin includes the arguments of the ruling issued last December by the BAG (see our dispatch No. ...
Italy: 19th annual Istat report reveals Italy’s “weaknesses”
The “Italian system” seems “more vulnerable” than in the past because, to face the biggest crisis in 60 years, the Italian economy and society” have greatly eaten into their reserves.”  However...
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1
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
2
Germany: apprenticeship openings fall sharply in manufacturing and chemicals
From 1 January 2026, Dutch collective agreements for temporary employment agencies will alter the employment conditions of temp workers. Agencies will be required to pay these workers at least the...