Italy: Eni signs unitary agreement with unions to revive its Gela refinery in Sicily
On July 19, Eni signed, with the RSUs and the local structures of the Filctem-CGIL, Femca-Cisl and Uiltec-Uil unions, an agreement for the restructuring of its Gela refinery, imposed by the...
Novartis: commentary of the new EWC (Euroforum) agreement
Since February 1, Novartis’ European Works Council, called Euroforum, has been ruled by a new agreement that adds to the structures’ operating rules the key novelties of the 2009/38 recast...
Italy: State and businesses mobilized to find solutions to the esodati crisis brought about by the Monti administration’s pension reform
Side effect to the 2011 pension reform, “esodati” are workers reaching the end of their carrier who have signed voluntary leave agreements during a restructuring or reorganization in their company...
United States: second time National Labor Relations Board is saved in a year and a half
After the NLRB’s appointments were cancelled since the American Senate didn’t expressly give its consent and with the Republican Representatives constantly blocking the issue, the Federal agency...
Great Britain: government outlines plan on the transparency of lobbies, which should also shed light on Labour funding by unions
The Coalition government has outlined its plans for a statutory register of lobbyists, saying it would boost public confidence about outside influence on the process of political decision-making...
Belgium: Belgian ‘wage disability’ still causes divisions
On July 15, the select Ministerial Committee received a report on the pay gap written – following its own request – by a group of experts (national bank, planning office, central economic council...
Sweden: social dumping with new operators at the heart of 2013 negotiations in transportation
Negotiations in the rail and bus transport industries were punctuated by social movements.  Wage increases were defined at 6.8 percent over three years, in line with most other sectors, but the...
Spain: flexibility enters collective agreements
Since 2010, when the first major labor market reform came into force, Spain has been implementing successive reforms aiming to make the labor market more flexible.  Introducing internal...
United States: 1.3 million food workers should join the AFL-CIO next month
With union membership globally down, the emblematic United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which organized the strikes that paralyzed food warehouses in California and the leader...
Germany: Volkswagen’s central WC wants to negotiate with Tennessee’s Republican officials to set up a WC in Chattanooga
Bernd Osterloh, head of Volkswagen’s central WC, has revealed the strategy and schedule he wants to follow to secure the election of a works council in the American plant of Chattanooga...
Italy: high turnout at the general strike against Indesit’s restructuring plan
A lot of workers joined the national 8-hour strike organized on July 12 in Fabriano (Marche), where Indesit Company has its headquarters, against the group’s restructuring plan, which provides for...
Luxembourg: new memorandum of understanding in construction
The social partners in the Luxembourg construction industry are finally out of the deadlock their collective agreement was in.  the approximately 14,000 construction workers didn’t have a...
Mexico: from 2013 on, labor cost is cheaper than in China
Several recent studies show that Mexico is becoming more competitive than China as far as labor cost is concerned.  Ten years ago, Mexican wages were still 3 times higher than in China in the...
Italy: Menarini group adopts solidarity contracts for medical representatives
On July 9, after bargaining for more than a year, Menarini Group – the largest pharmaceutical group in Italy – signed an agreement with its RSUs and the Femca-Cisl, Filctem-CGIL and Uiltec-UIL...
Great Britain: annual CAC report on statutory union recognition procedures
In the annual report of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), the body which administers the statutory union recognition procedure, applications for union recognition increased to 54 in...
Germany: doubts raised in 13 Lander as to the conformity of laws that condition the award of public contracts to compliance with minimum social and pay standards
The battle around minimum wage, one of the central themes in the election campaign, goes on at regional level.  On August 1, the Land of Schleswig-Holstein will introduce the obligations to pay...
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...
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
Germany: standoff over national plan to boost collective bargaining
Under the EU Adequate Minimum Wages Directive, Germany is required to produce an action plan to boost collective bargaining coverage. That plan has stalled, however, after being blocked by the...
9 February 2026
5
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...
6
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