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Germany: indefinite strike in the rail sector sparks debate on the need to reform the right to strike
Up until the last minute, customers of the German rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) had hoped that the new strike by train drivers, announced on 18 May by the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL)...
20 May 2015
Spain: Unions and employers ratify a pre-framework agreement on employment and collective bargaining that prioritizes quality work and strengthens collective bargaining
The agreement in principle on salary rises concluded on May 11 between representatives of both the unions and employers bodies has now freed the way for discussion on other topics in the...
19 May 2015
Dassault Systèmes: interview with Catherine Guillot, EMEA Senior Labor & Industrial Relations Specialist on an agreement over worker involvement in the future Societas Europaea (SE)
On April 10 the French 3D design software specialist signed an agreement over worker involvement in the future SE (c.f. article No. 9016). Catherine Guillot, EMEA industrial relations legal...
19 May 2015
Slovenia: Social Agreement 2015-2016
The social partners reached consensus on the content of the Social Agreement 2015-2016 that was recently published in the Official Gazette of the RS. The Social Agreement contains various goals...
19 May 2015
Japan: “the principle of lifetime employment is extremely difficult to attack, even for businesses in financial difficulties”
Company restructuring choices tend towards lower wages and ‘voluntary departures” for those close to retirement rather than by redundancy procedures. “Such lack of flexibility in human resource...
18 May 2015
United States: UAW unveils future plans for a works council at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga
The Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the only one outside of China which is not represented at the automobile company’s global works council. The United Auto Workers have thus...
13 May 2015
Spain: unions and employers announce an agreement in principle on the pact that regulates collective bargaining and wage trends
The agreement marks an official end to the wage freeze that hit the sector at the start of the economic crisis. In it has been penned an overall rise in wages of 1% for 2015 and 1.5% for 2016 as...
12 May 2015
Austria: both the chemicals and hotel & catering sectors conclude unusual collective agreements
Two of Austria’s key economic sectors have just renewed their respective sector’s collective agreements. The Chemicals sector (45,000 workers) signed theirs on April 24 and the Hotel &...
12 May 2015
Italy: call centers in an unprecedented crisis situation
Not a week goes by in Italy without call center workers going out on strike or using other shock means to draw attention to and denounce a situation where thousands of redundancies are hitting...
12 May 2015
Sweden: agreement in the temporary work sector strengthens the Swedish model
On April 29 an agreement was signed between the LO confederation and the employers’ body Almega Bemmanningsföretagen (staffing agency employers federation). The one-year agreement covering some...
12 May 2015
Portugal: retail sector negotiating a new collective agreement
The country’s retail sector is renegotiating its collective agreement. The current agreement was negotiated in 2009 and implemented a year later and nothing has been changed since. The country’s...
11 May 2015
Germany: IG Metall union launches an internet platform aimed at improving working conditions for ‘crowdworkers’
The traditional union May day demonstrations, this year held under the banner “we are building tomorrow’s work today”, was the venue the German metals union IG Metall chose to launch the first of...
11 May 2015
Election results for Great Britain: a mixed bag for business and a downright disaster for unions
Tighter strike laws, a referendum on a possible Brexit, attendant halting of Europe Social Directive projects (EWC information & consultation), Tom HAYES, Executive Director of BEERG (the...
11 May 2015
Germany: talks well advanced between IG Metall and BMW over an agreement to include better working conditions in subcontractor services employment contracts
The Bavarian Federation of IG Metall has just signed a collective agreement with BLG (one of carmaker BMW’s major logistics subcontractors) over better pay and hours. It is the latest result of a...
8 May 2015
Bulgaria: Lidl implements a dual professional education program
From September, Lidl Bulgaria will offer places on a dual professional educational program. This is a pilot apprenticeship program for students in the commercial sector and forms part of a wider...
8 May 2015
Spain: CCOO and UGT sign agreement with Telefónica’s installation and maintenance companies, but minority trade unions want to keep fighting
On 5 May, the CCOO (Workers’ Commissions) and UGT (General Union of Workers) announced that they had signed an agreement with the main companies dealing with the installation and maintenance of...
6 May 2015
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