National industrial relations
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Great Britain: the Living Wage is making employers blanch
How does one absorb the costs of a mandatory rise in the minimum wage of almost 7.5% to be paid to all workers over the age of 25? This is the question bothering British businesses that remain...
9 March 2016
Germany: social partners in the chemicals sector set up the ‘SO-WIN’ training cycle as a way of getting senior management and WC employee representatives working together on the theme of sustainable development
In mid-February, the IG BCE union together with the BAVC employers’ federation announced the establishment of the “social partner workshop for innovation and sustainable development” (SO.WIN). The...
8 March 2016
Spain: first collective agreement concluded at Lidl
On 04 March 2016, management at supermarket chain Lidl together with the unions CCOO and UGT signed the first company wide collective agreement. In it is the highest minimum wage level for the...
8 March 2016
India: general strike set for 10 March protesting the Modi government’s labor law reform projects
11 central trade unions of India, including Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS), an affiliate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called for a national strike on 10 March protesting the...
7 March 2016
Great Britain: reform to union financing of the Labour Party is halted
With the law reforming unions, called the Trade Union Bill, still under examination by Parliament, a House of Lords committee has called on David Cameron’s government to reexamine the bill in the...
3 March 2016
Estonia: union discrimination at Nordea, an example of cross-border union cooperation
Final episode in the saga. Bank Nordea was found to have entered into union discrimination vis-à-vis one of its employees, Hannes Veskimaë who had set up a union section in January 2015. Hannes...
3 March 2016
Netherlands : agreement in principle in metal sector (Metalektro)
After a period of unsuccessful negotiations followed by a long series of strikes (article n°9247), the trade union and employers delegations reached an accord in principle for a new collective...
3 March 2016
France: draft law on labor law reform sees the youth take to the streets
Faced with union opposition, significant mobilization using the social networks, and an online petition that has, to date, received almost 900,000 signatures, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced...
2 March 2016
Finland: unions accept a sharp increase in employee social contribution charges as well as longer working hours in a bid to boost competitiveness
In a bid to improve growth and battle unemployment, Finland’s social partners have agreed (02.29) a certain number of measures impacting workers conditions. The government still has to accept the...
2 March 2016
Econocom: Belgian information services group has adopted Societas Europaea (SE) status
Econocom is Belgium’s first business group to adopt Societas Europaea (SE) status. In 2006 when the company employed a modest 3,000 it set up a European Works Council (EWC) that has become, with...
2 March 2016
Germany: despite massive refugee inflows, one employers’ body is calling for a managed immigration policy specifically catering for skilled workers from outside the EU
Even though Germany’s four major employers’ bodies, (BDA, BDI, DIHK, and ZDH), have recently lent their support for Angela Merkel’s highly controversial refugee integration policy, the Cologne...
1 March 2016
Great Britain: the small independent workers union (IWGB) is using social networks and flashmobs to secure decent wages for couriers
Two same-day courier companies have succumbed to the pressure from the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union and raised the rates each courier is paid per delivered item. The IWGB is a...
26 February 2016
Germany: IG Metall union contemplating testing a new strike tactic during the upcoming metals collective negotiations
Against a backdrop of preparations being in full swing for the upcoming negotiations on renewing the metals and electro technical collective agreement, the IG Metall union has confirmed that it...
24 February 2016
Norway and Sweden: debate over a 6-hour working day
It's a recurring question: why not generalize a 6-hour working day in order to optimize production and fight unemployment? This is the unions’ message, and businesses from various sectors have...
24 February 2016
Finland: unions ready to discuss decentralizing collective negotiation
Decentralizing collective negotiation is one of the points on the negotiating table currently being discussed by unions, employers, and the government in the context of improving Finland’s...
24 February 2016
Deutsche Bahn: the EWC negotiates its first ‘European social plan’
Well-known German rail operator Deutsche Bahn is to divide its accounting businesses across three new centers. For Europe, the Global Accounting Shared Service Center Europe will no longer operate...
23 February 2016
Our mind news
Crédit Agricole is to adopt stricter rules on remote work from mid-March onwards. The rules will be tightened for employees, but the maximum number of days working remotely will remain unchanged.
29 January 2026
The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...
8 December 2025
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...
31 October 2025
Candice Guillot, group director of employee experience and HR performance at Talan (7,000 employees), outlines for mind RH her vision and strategy for introducing artificial intelligence at the...
20 October 2025
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
Oliver Dietrich (IG Metall): “The advent of AI can be a means of deepening social partnership within companies”
In Germany, trade unions want to influence how AI is deployed in companies. Oliver Dietrich is an AI project manager at the regional office of the IG Metall trade union in North Rhine-Westphalia...
21 January 2026
2
EU: social partners split over competitiveness and action on job quality
The European Trade Union Confederation and BusinessEurope have published their response to the consultation document on the European Commission's upcoming EU quality jobs initiative. The two...
4 February 2026
3
Germany: collective bargaining negotiations begin in chemical industry
Collective bargaining talks in Germany’s chemical and pharmaceutical industries are due to open this week, covering nearly 580,000 employees across around 1,700 companies. With the sector facing...
3 February 2026
4
Italy: new generational renewal agreement penned at UniCredit
The agreement signed on 30 December by UniCredit, Italy’s second-largest banking group, with the Fabi, First-Cisl, Fisac-Cgil, Uilca and Unisin trade unions aims to continue generational...
15 January 2026
5
France: social partner talks extend far beyond contractual terminations
After a false start on 3 December, French social partners resumed talks on 7 January 2026 on potential changes to the unemployment insurance agreement, including the rules governing compensation...
12 January 2026
6
EU: banking sector social partners commit to combating violence and harassment
On 15 January, the trade union federation UNI Europa Finance and three employers’ associations in the banking sector signed a joint statement on preventing violence and harassment in the...
16 January 2026