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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...
Italy: the Fiom’s central committee confirms mobilization against the separate agreement on the metalworking CCN
“Deeply negative judgment.” This is how the central committee of the Fiom, gathered on October 20, summarized its point of view on the agreement for the renewal of the CCN signed on October 15 by...
Spain: in Valencia, Ford’s employees validate the new company agreement and the management’s social plan
A better agreement with no economic layoffs. The new text contains major improvements compared with the text rejected in April because unions were divided (see our dispatch No. 090695). The 600...
Germany: back to layoffs and wage freezes?
In Germany, unemployment figures for September 2009 surprised experts. This fall, the recovery was faster than anticipated and unemployment dropped of 8.3% in August and 8% in September (7.4% in...
Germany: the Deutsche Bahn to pay a high fine for controlling employees’ data without their knowing it
Earlier this year, the Deutsche Bahn recognized that it controlled and compared, several times since 1998, personal information on almost all its employees and suppliers without them knowing about...
China: expats going home
Fewer expats. The big apartment on the 20th floor with a view on Shanghai’s skyscrapers seems pretty empty. After nine months living in China, Karine is quickly gathering her last boxes in the...
21 October 2009
RR Donnelley: EWC agreement
RR Donnelley’s special negotiating body and management signed an agreement establishing the EWC. This agreement is the result of three years of negotiations during which the company’s American...
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
Catherine Chavanier (CDC Habitat): “Social dialogue on AI facilitates its deployment”
In February, CDC Habitat (10,500 employees) signed a two-year framework agreement governing social dialogue on AI. Catherine Chavanier, HR Director of the subsidiary of CDC (Caisse des dépôts et...
2
Greece: hospitality sector signs first collective agreement aligned with National Social Pact
The hospitality sector (125,000 employees), one of Greece’s largest industries after retail, signed a new two-year collective agreement on 17 March. The text, effective from 1 April 2026...
3
France: La Poste to launch negotiations for an AI agreement
Following the lead of firms such as Axa, Syensqo globally, and more recently CDC Habitat, La Poste group management will open negotiations on an AI regulation agreement during the first half of...
4
France: Club Med includes “multiculturalism” in its professional equality agreement
In December 2025, Club Med and the CFTC, Unsa, and FO trade unions signed an agreement on professional equality and working conditions. It introduces measures addressing AI, pay transparency, and...
23 March 2026
5
Germany: crisis and transformation wage agreement in the chemical sector
Following a two-day marathon negotiation in Bad Breisig (Western Germany), the social partners of the German chemical and pharmaceutical industries—the IG BCE trade union and the BAVC employers'...
27 March 2026
6
France: bioMérieux’s new disability agreement pivots towards mental health
The news. On 6 January 2026, bioMérieux—an in vitro diagnostics specialist employing 4,400 people in France—signed a new four-year agreement “relating to the employment...