All articles

Italy: Cgil presents strategy to improve continuous training access
Characterized by a low schooling level, early departures from school, a low rate of adults' continuous training, Italy is very late concerning Lisbon's objectives in lifelong training. For that...
Gaz de France: the fate of GDF and Suez’s EWCs after the merger
During the meeting of Gaz de France's EWC on March 11, 2008 (see our dispatch No. 080204), the management presented an outline of the future of the European staff representation bodies of the two...
Sweden: LO prepares congress and wants more investment into training
The executive committee of the Swedish confederation of blue-collar workers, LO, prepared the course of the congress which is going to take place from May 31 to June 4, 2008. The starting point of...
Finland: forum to prepare the next pension reform
The Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Liisa Hyssälä, created, on March 10, 2008, a pension forum to control and evaluate the enforcement of pensions for 2005 and 2007. The aim is to...
Austria: government to agree on the “Papamonat”, a parental leave for fathers
The governmental work group on the "Papamonat", a new special benefit for fathers who stop working after their child is born, should present a final text in April. All political parties agree on...
Great Britain: nuclear radiation might be linked to heart diseases
An amazing study was published last week in the International Journal of Epidemiology: radiation exposure could be the source of increased mortality after cardiovascular diseases among nuclear...
Sweden: tax cuts to encourage fathers to take parental leaves and leaves to care for sick children
The Swedish government will introduce, on July 1, 2008, a relatively important tax cut for families where the mother and the father equally share parental leaves. It is also thinking about a...
Germany: dispute on seniors’ part-time in the metal sector
The metalworkers' union IG Metall, which is fighting to keep the law on seniors' part time (Altersteilzeit), which is supposed to expire at the end of 2009, chose the tough way. Between March 10...
Denmark: 3F launches a new network to fight pay inequality
In spite of companies' obligation to gather information on pay according to gender, the pay gap between men and women is increasing and would have reached 17% in 2006. This is the reason why Jane...
EU: CJEC to rule on the notion of direct discrimination on the grounds ethnic origin
In his conclusions delivered on March 12, 2008, the Advocate General Poiares Maduro proposes that the Court accepts that, when an employer tells the media that "he would not recruit persons of...
Gaz de France: EWC says no to merger with Suez and takes cognizance of the social guaranties presented by the management
After the EWC meeting on March 11, 2008, the members adopted a negative opinion on the merger between GDF and Suez. The document, rounded up on March 12, presents economic arguments against this...
Germany: a ruling which revives controversy on industry-wide minimum wage
Since Berlin's Administrative Court declared, on March 7, that the new minimum wage which came into effect on January 1, 2008 in postal services was "illegal", the controversy on this topic...
Great Britain: more companies train their workers on ethics codes
According to a study carried out by the Institute of Business Ethics, 71% of the 350 companies listed on the stock market train their employees in the subject of business ethics, instead of 47% in...
12 March 2008
Germany: wage agreement in the textile and clothing industry
After sixteen hours of negotiation, the metalworkers union IG Metall and the employers' organization of western Germany's textile and clothing industry signed, on March 11, 2008, a wage agreement...
EU: Commission validates training aid to Volvo Cars Gent’s employees
The European Commission approved, on March 11, 2008, the €3.54 million aid the Flemish Region intends to grant to support training at Volvo Cars Gent in Ghent, Belgium. The Commission, after an...
EU: sectoral social dialogue committee for professional football
The list of sectoral social dialogue committees is extended with the launching, on March 17, of the European social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. One of the social...
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1
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
4
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...
5
Germany: launch of the “WE-Fair” alliance for binational training of skilled foreign workers
Germany continues to expand and diversify its initiatives to attract skilled foreign labour from outside the EU. In mid-March 2026, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development...