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Volkswagen: global Charter on employee representatives’ participation rights
This Charter was negotiated by the Global VW Works Council and the management. In its preamble, the Charter values performance and participation, which create the company’s culture. The first...
Denmark: analysis of the impact on the Danish system of the conflict caused by the renewal of collective agreements in the public sector in 2008
During the biggest conflict in the history of the public sector, in the spring of 2008, as part of the renewal of sectoral collective agreements, several experts were concerned about its...
5 November 2009
Germany: offended by General Motors’ decision to keep Opel, unions become hostile
Russelsheim, Opel’s central works council and the IG-Metall called on the carmaker’s 45,000 European employees to take part in warning strikes to protest against the unexpected...
EU: the Lisbon Treaty’s social contributions
General institutional innovations. After much wrangling (see our dispatch No. 091001), Czech President Vaclav Klaus ratified the Lisbon Treaty on November 3. After the hazards of the ratification...
EDF: EWC mobilizes for EDF Polska’s employees
The “Trèfle” project affecting the EDF Polska subsidiary provides, in the long run, for the merger of the different entities making up this company. It should lead to over 300 job cuts and the...
Austria: metalworking negotiations stuck on flexible working time
Flexibility in exchange for wage increase. “Anything’s possible, because the situation hadn’t been that stuck in a long time” declared Hermann Haslauer, negotiator for employers, the day after the...
Sweden: debate on layoff order because of rising youth unemployment and difficulties for SMEs
SMEs want more flexibility to face the crisis. Anna-Stina Nodmark Nilsson, leader of the Foretagarna employers’ association, which represents SMEs (55,000 members), thinks that layoff priority...
Germany: Transnet and GDBA to merge to create a new rail union
Two unions, two sizes. The two unions, which have been working together since 2005, want to merge to better deal with the “drastic changes” which shook up the transport sector, the possible...
Belgium: rail strike on Thursday, November 5 to protest against B-Cargo’s restructuring plan
No train will go from Paris to Amsterdam on November, Thalys already announced. Belgian railroaders are opposed to the restructuring at B-Cargo, the cargo unit of the National Railway Company of...
Spain: agreement on the new sectoral collective agreement for Pontevedra’s metalworkers
On November 2, the Asime, Atra and Feca employers’ organizations and the two majority unions, UGT and CCOO (Workers’ Commissions), ratified the agreement, but the CIG nationalist Galician union...
Lithuania: national agreement strengthens cooperation with the social partners
In spite of the revolt of independent organizations and unions in the public sector (teachers’ unions, medical professions, police unions, see our dispatch No. 090956), the Confederation of...
United States: Ford employees reject the compromise reached between the management and the UAW
Rejecting the compromise accepted by the United Auto Workers (UAW). Ford’s American employees refused the new wage concessions demanded by the management and agreed to by the UAW (see our dispatch...
EU: the Czech republic is the third country to be exempt from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU
Blackmail. The 26 heads of State and government finally gave in to Czech President Vaclav Klaus’ blackmail. The latter will ratify the Lisbon Treaty but will enjoy the same protocol established in...
EU: employment and environment at the hear of the tripartite social summit
Alarming unemployment increase. On the morning of October 29, a tripartite social summit was held before the meeting of the 27 heads of State and government. Representatives from the European...
Italy: Fiom-CGIL defines a strategy against the separate agreement for the renewal of the national collective agreement in metalworking
The Fiom’s “tough” line. “Let it be clear to the signatories of the separate agreement of October 15: we will burst it.” This is how Fiom leader Gianni Rinaldini set the tone for the national...
2 November 2009
Netherlands: trial of strength between TNT and unions
Negotiations on ways to cut costs. Negotiations on TNT’s next collective agreement are at a standstill, since unions rejected, in April, a major restructuring program announced in August 2007...
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
mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators
In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...
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EU: right and far right join forces in parliament to dismantle sustainability due diligence
On 13 November, the European Parliament approved the report by EPP MEP Jörgen Warborn on the proposed omnibus directive, clearing the way for trilogue negotiations. Backed by the far right, the...
13 November 2025
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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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Germany: EU pay transparency directive to force companies to ‘get tough’
Germany introduced a pay transparency law in 2017, meaning companies are already somewhat familiar with the issue. However, the broader scope and stricter requirements of the EU directive, the...
24 October 2025
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EU: omnibus bill stalls in parliament
On 22 October, members of the European Parliament narrowly voted against a negotiating mandate that would have opened trilogue talks on the omnibus directive, which seeks to dilute the corporate...
23 October 2025
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Germany: ‘active retirement’ law adopted to encourage seniors to remain in the workforce
On 15 October, Germany’s cabinet approved draft legislation on ‘active retirement‘, which is expected to pass swiftly through Parliament. The bill would allow people who continue...