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EU: political agreement on the maritime labor convention
After the ILO adopted, in 2006, the maritime labor convention, the European social partners engaged collective negotiations in the light of article 139 of the Treaty, reaching an agreement...
G4S: international framework agreement
The body of the agreement states that employees “have the right to organize unions in a free and fair atmosphere.” The local management is invited to facilitate union members’ access to G4S’...
Germany: new measures on January 1, 2009
During its last meeting of the year, the Bundesrat, the Upper House of the German Parliament, implemented a series of laws concerning employment and social contributions. They add to other laws...
Suspension of the information thread until January 5, 2009
Because of the Holidays, we are going to suspend our information thread from until January 5, 2009, am. Our database will remain available for consultation during that period. The Planet Labor...
24 December 2008
Netherlands : focus on the temporary reduction of working hours scheme due to credit crisis
Due to the credit crisis the Dutch government has created a special reduction of working hours scheme (werktijdverkorting, or WTV in short, see our article 080934). This will enable companies who...
Czech Republic: the automobile crisis will be more serious than anticipated
Skoda Auto. The Czech Republic’s biggest exporter is to scale down operations by three percent due to a sharp decline in demand, the company announced last week. This would result in nearly 870...
Portugal: transnational funding to save Qimonda from bankruptcy
Portugal is granting a 100 million euro loan to the Qimonda company (subsidiary of the German multinational company Infineon) to avoid bankruptcy. The loan granted by the national Portuguese bank...
EU: the mission for flexicurity presents its report
Gerard Larcher's Flexicurity Mission rendered its report during the Council on Employment and Social Affairs of December 17. This report follows the communication of the European Commission...
Argentina: collective bargaining increased of nearly 40% in one year
The numerous social conflicts led to a major increase in collective bargaining during the third quarter of 2008. It increased of 37% compared to the same period in 2007. Most concern wage...
Mexico: campaign to prevent dismissals and strengthen the human capital
The Mexican association of human resources managers launched a campaign among businesses to prevent dismissals due to the crisis. Specialists propose that employers adopt a strategy in five points...
Czech Republic: national railway reaches collective agreement for 2009
The management of the Czech Republic's largest employer, Ceske Drahy (Czech Railways) signed a company level collective agreement for 2009 with participating trade unions in mid-December, after...
Spain: a new general secretary for the Workers’ Commission
ge (see our dispatch No. 081011). After a tight vote, the representatives gathered for the 9th Congress elected, on Friday, December 19, Ignacio Fernando Toxo, until then number 2 in the union...
Poland: implementation of the reform of early retirement for arduous labor
On December 19, 2008, Polish MPs finally overrode the President's veto on the text a few days earlier, and implemented the reform on early retirement which considerable reduces the number of...
Germany: postal minimum wage ruled illegal by second instance
The regional administrative court of Berlin Brandenburg confirmed a ruling of first instance rendered in March 2008. According to the judges, the federal government may not impose the rate of...
Portugal: Portuguese regulations for partial unemployment
After looking at the Cassa Integrazione Guadagni in Italy (see our dispatch No. 080932), conventional possibilities to adjust working time in some cases in Slovenia (see our dispatch No. 081005)...
Brazil: businesses want more flexible labor laws to face the crisis
The Brazilian mining giant, Vale Do Rio Doce, took the lead of a protest movement requesting the government brings flexibility into labor law to face the production decline. Several Brazilian...
19 December 2008
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: Yves Rocher convicted of breach of duty of vigilance for infringement of freedom of association
The specialised chamber of the Paris Judicial Court convicted Yves Rocher on 12 March for breaching its duty of vigilance. The group was sued by Turkish employees dismissed in 2018 by a subsidiary...
12 March 2026
2
Spain: business support package to tackle the economic impact of the Middle East conflict
The Spanish government approved a series of measures on 20 March to support companies facing rising energy prices. In return, these businesses are prohibited from making redundancies for economic...
23 March 2026
3
EU: Council adopts position on simplifying AI rules
The Council of the EU approved its position on 13 March regarding the “omnibus regulation” proposal, published last November by the Commission to simplify the AI Act. Confirming the...
20 March 2026
4
Germany: a corporate group supports local political engagement via its “Democracy Charter”
Large corporations in the Hesse region, surrounding Frankfurt, are defending local democracy by enabling employees to volunteer in local public life through an initiative dubbed the "Democracy...
11 March 2026
5
United States: Coca-Cola subsidiary sued by the administration over women-only event
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on 18 February that it is launching federal proceedings against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast for “sex-based...
6 March 2026