United States: Walmart in spotlight for opening on Thanksgiving night
Walmart, the global retail market leader, was forced to respond to the movement organized to denounce its social practices during the sales following Thanksgiving Day. The conflict, brought to the...
Great Britain: Virgin Media successfully derecognises CWU and BECTU
Virgin Media has won its battle to derecognise two unions within its operations. In a ballot conducted over a two week period, workers voted to derecognise the two sole recognised unions, the CWU...
SAS: the airline’s unions forced to accept major concessions
"We have almost completely transformed the company in record time. It is a first yet crucial step" rejoiced SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson at a press conference on November 19, announcing that the 8...
22 November 2012
Italy: new “Productivity Pact” formally adopted, but not by the CGIL
As expected, the "Productivity Pact" is the result of a separate agreement. Yesterday, in Rome, the government and the social partners, except for the CGIL, signed the agreement on "Guidelines for...
ThyssenKrupp Elevator: new European agreement signed with IndustriAll Europe introduces a system of idea management to improve health and safety
On November 14, IndustriAll Europe, manufacturing union, signed its first European agreement with a German company, namely ThyssenKrupp Elevator. This agreement confirms the key role played by...
Italy: textile and footwear unions sign unitary platform renewing national collective agreement
On November 15, the Femca-Cisl, Filctem-CGIL and Uilta-Uil unions approved the unitary platform renewing the national collective agreement in textile, clothing and footwear (over 500,000...
Portugal: social partners launch negotiations on the introduction of a duodecimal bonus system
The Portuguese government promised unions and employers a bargaining round for the application of the duodecimal system for bonuses given in the private sectors (i.e. over two years). The social...
Belgium: pay freeze in 2013 and 2014 without questioning the indexation on inflation
The government run by socialist Elio Di Rupo reached an agreement on the draft 2013 budget providing for a pay freeze in the country, which will not affect average and low wages and minimum wage...
Germany: Verdi starts another war against T-Mobile USA (Deutsche Telekom), accused of “psychological terror” against employees trying to join a union
The Verdi services union is going on the offensive again denouncing the "primary antiunion" attitude of T-Mobile USA's management since the company was created in 2001. Based on a recent internal...
20 November 2012
Sweden: guaranteed hourly pay for agency workers
After 7 months bargaining, an agreement was finally reached for the 60,000 agency workers on October 17. signed between LO (landsorganisationen, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation) and Almega...
Italy: social partners reach agreement on the “Productivity Pact” requested by Monti
Towards a decentralized conventional system.  After the separate agreement reforming the collective bargaining system was signed on January 22, 2008 (see our dispatch No.  090080) and the...
Sweden: to get round unions’ veto on signing crisis agreements, businesses negotiate amendments to the labor contract directly with their employees
The case of Parker Hannifin in Trollhättan.  Created in 1918, Parker Hannifin Corporation is the global leader in motion and control technologies, employing 60,000 people around the world –  1,200...
19 November 2012
ZF Friedrichshafen: IG-Metall union and car part maker fight over the implementation of the company’s international framework agreement
On October 5, ZF Friedrichshafen, one of the world leaders in ground transmission and liaison systems, signed with union and employee representatives an international framework agreement (IFA) on...
Denmark: FTF union confederation congress banks on cooperation
Funktionærernes og Tjenestemændenes Fællesrad (FTF), the second largest union in the country, organized its congress on November 14-15 in Copenhagen with the slogan "Together for Society." The...
Germany: Lufthansa’s aircrew get wage increase and employment guarantee in return for flexible working hours
After months fighting, including three days of strike, Lufthansa, the German airline, and the Ufo aircrew union announced, on November 13, that they had signed a collective agreement based on a...
14 November 2012
HP: European trade union coordination to help employee representatives stay in touch after EWC is terminated
tatives terminated the anticipation agreement establishing a European Works Council. Before a new agreement is signed, the EWC will be governed by the 2009 regulations – more advantageous...
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
ENI incorporates just transition and AI into global agreement
On 13 January, Italian energy group ENI renewed its global agreement on international industrial relations, corporate social responsibility and the just transition with Italian unions CGIL, CISL...
5 February 2026