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Slovakia: government increases minimum wage by 4.1% for 2010
The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ SR) justified its high claims by the need to reduce the gap between minimum wage and average wage (€721.40). It is also based on the...
Italy: unitary agreement for the renewal of the telecommunications’ collective contract
New unitary agreement. In spite of three different claim platforms, the Asstel employers’ association and the Fistel-Cisl, SLC-CGIL and Uilcom-Uil unions concluded, on October 23, a unitary...
Danone: European Works Council extended at global level
Official opening at global level. As the management of the French food company reminded in a press release published on October 21, the agreement establishing the ICC – Danone’s EWC – originally...
Great Britain: stage two consultation on the transposition of the European directive on temporary work
Long blocked by the UK within the Council of the European union, the European directive on temporary work (see our dispatch No. 080986) was finally adopted in November 2008, shortly after the...
Germany: new German government doesn’t envision a break in terms of employment and labor
A rather social message. The first measures announced during negotiations on the new government’s program immediately laid the government’s cards on the table. Angela Merkel and her new ally...
Netherlands: negotiations on working conditions break
Disagreement on “arduous jobs.” The social climate remains tens after the announcement of the pension reform. Employers’ organizations say that the FNV broke the negotiations to protest against...
Great Britain: success for the government’s policy in favor of training and skills
Continuous training. The statistics publish are about workers over 16 who aren’t enrolled at school or in a British college. In addition to positive apprenticeship figures, almost 1.5 million...
Sweden: government proposes to adjust industrial relations system to comply with EU law
Supervising collective action. In a decision rendered in December 2007 (Laval, see our dispatch No. 071034), the ECJ ruled that, in the case of posted workers, Swedish unions’ actions to...
China: surprising workforce shortage for the ‘made in china’
Orders are back but not workers. No answer to his job offers and no one to recruit at the city’s employment fair. Like his colleagues, Yang Zongfu can’t find workers to come work in his jean plant...
26 October 2009
Spain: temp social partners list eight recommendations to bargain for equality programs in the sector’s businesses
These eight recommendations, of a declarative value, were developed within the equal committee on best practices in terms of equality programs in the temporary sector. They have to characterize...
Portugal: Minister for Labor and Solidarity from a European trade union
European trade union leader. Maria Helena André was elected ETUC deputy general secretary in 2003, and reelected in 2007. She was notably in charge of European social dialog. The new Labor...
Italy: basic unions join forces but are still divided over the creation of a union confederation
“Fully successful” strike. This is how Pierpaolo Leonardi, national Rdb Cub coordinator, qualified the general 24-hour strike launched by basic unions – Rdb, Cub, Cobas and Sdl Intercategoriale...
EU: national laws making the dismissal of employees on parental leave cheaper in the ECJ’s line of sight
Facts. A Belgian employee fired for economic reasons objected to the amount of compensation she got, based on the part-time salary she received while on parental leave. She asked that compensation...
Germany: to keep young skilled workers in businesses, the Bavarian idea of “employment bridges” is gaining a following
700,000 specialists needed by 2015. In May, the social partners in metalworking and the Land of Bavaria came up with the idea of an employment bridge for apprentices, skilled workers and...
Argentina: inflation higher than wage increases
According to the human resources specialist, Ernst & Young, a huge majority of Argentinean businesses increased wages in 2009 for workers who aren’t covered by collective agreements. In a...
Spain: Magna and Figueruelas unions reach an agreement
Unions are satisfied and think that the new points Magna included into the industrial plan to strengthen the site’s future includes their main claims and offers guarantees to maintain production...
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1
France: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 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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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
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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...
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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...
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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...