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Austria: 4.2-4.5% increase in one year for 170.000 metal and mine workers
The agreement reached by the social partners in the metallurgy and mining sector, presented in the night of November 5, 2008, sparked off a controversy among employers. Overall deemed positive, it...
Belgium: royal decree on the working conditions of mobile workers engaged in interoperable cross-border services in the railway sector
After ratification by the Council of Ministers on November 7, 2008, a Royal Decree which contains rules on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers engaged in interoperable...
Belgium: draft bill to limit golden parachutes
The Council of Ministers held on November 7, 2008 adopted the draft bill amending the code of businesses to limit the amount of the severance pay of some managing agents and to draw a report of...
10 November 2008
Italy: Alitalia’s autonomous unions mobilized against the Cai’s refusal to continue bargaining
This week will be decisive for the takeover of the Italian airline Alitalia by the consortium of Italian investors, Cai. After the Cai's chair declared the end of social negotiations, the...
Spain: in the absence of support from the social partners, the government postpones some measures to boost employment
The crisis is causing social dialogue to crumble as the government is trying to face the rapid unemployment increase. The social partners answered with a burst of criticism to the proposition the...
Netherlands: tripartite talks to shorten the work week to avoid mass layoffs
Union and employers' organizations as well as the government are having talks behind closed doors to face the risk of mass layoffs because of the economic crisis. Reducing working time for all (36...
Spain: unions protest against job cuts and want public powers to step in
The opposition to the layoff plan presented by Nissan for its site in Barcelona has become unions' symbol. They protest against staffing cuts ("EREs" - expedientes de reducción de empleo) which...
Germany: the train drivers’ union GDL satisfied about the temporary writing off of the partial privatization of the Deutsche Bahn
Bonus if the privatization succeeds. With the threat of recession in Germany as a background and the new debate on managers’ remuneration (see our dispatch No. 080811), the announcement in...
EDF: European trade unions at the EWC want a wage increase
In a joint press release, nine trade unions with representatives within the EWC of the French energy group EDF (158.640 employees, over 105.000 of which in France) launched a petition in favor of...
Freudenberg: the German group is revising its global framework agreement
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) announced that it bargained to improve the international framework agreement it signed with the German...
Denmark: firing a man who leaves to take a fertility test is illegal
An employee received over 200.000 crowns in damages after being dismissed because he left for fertility treatment. The Western Regional Court ruled that this dismissal violated the law on equal...
Italy: the CGIL union has a plan to get out of the crisis
“To get out of the crisis, we are going to need new rules, all the rules we failed to set over the past fifteen years. But we mostly need new values and a new liability ethic” declared Gugliemo...
Germany: DGB unions agree on the reform of their central organization
After several months of bargaining between the eight member unions of the German confederation of trade unions - DGB - an agreement was reached to reform the organization. The reform will spread...
Czech Republic: new obligations on employers resulting from the reform of sickness insurance
The health insurance reform will be complete on January 1, 2009. Pavel Jakab, lawyer at the Peterka & Partners law firm in Prague, is commenting for Planet Labor the impact of this reform on...
Germany: the IG Metall threatens employers to strike as of November 17
In spite of the ongoing debate over the methods of the union, which is asking for an 8% increase during a crisis, the IG Metall is holding on and presenting employers with an ultimatum. If no...
EU: the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers wants a directive providing for liability of general contractors
During a hearing at the European Parliament on November 5, 2008, the Chairman of the Standing Committee Building of the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW), John Kerstens...
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Italy: decree-law adopted to increase workplace safety
On 28 October, the Italian cabinet adopted a decree-law on health and safety at work, aimed at preventing and reducing accidents. The text addresses both the powers and actions of supervisory...
4 November 2025
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Spain: already well on the way to pay transparency?
Spain is preparing for the implementation of its national law transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which will take effect on 7 June 2026. The legislation marks another step forward in...
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Romania: parents of children with disabilities granted up to eight days of remote work per month
On 9 October, the Romanian parliament adopted a bill aiming to bolster support for parents of children with disabilities up to the age of 18. The legislation, which came into force on 12 October...
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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: Court of Justice largely upholds directive on adequate minimum wages
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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