Germany: interview of Horst Mund, head of the department of “international policy” of the IG-Metall union
Horst Mund.  My “international policy” department runs our activities abroad.  We directly advise Berthold Huber, leader of the IG-Metall and of the IMF (editor’s note: International Metalworkers’...
Germany: in energy, EON employees get a wage increase divided in two over 19 months
The outcome of the renewal of the collective agreements covering the 30,000 employees of the largest electricity provider in Germany, EON, as well as Tennet’s German employees, is far from the...
Great Britain: bitter end to the conflict for the employees of the Hull bio-ethanol plant
The Redhall workers refused to accept dismissal and mounted a campaign of action including daily mass protests at Saltend, blockades of the gates, a temporary occupation of the construction site...
Germany: Airbus employees are preparing strikes to limit appeal to agency workers and secure employment guarantee until 2020
Insufficient proposals and a “yellow card” for Thomas Enders; this is the message the IG-Metall, airbus Operations GmbH’s WC and German employees will send tomorrow, June 8th, to airbus management...
Great Britain: government threatens to regulate the right to strike if industrial action increases
Cable said: ‘We are undoubtedly entering a difficult period [of austerity and public spending cuts]. Cool heads will be required all round. Despite occasional blips, I know that strike levels...
Germany: 2nd largest IG-Metall regional federation wants to impose mandatory permanent recruitment of apprentices
Define the nature of industrial employment.  The region’s employers weren’t happy with the IG-Metall NRW’s announcement.  Indeed, Oliver Burkhard, tenacious leader of a regional union federation...
Italy: giving in to union pressure, Fincantieri withdraws restructuring plan
With intense mobilization showing unusual unity in Italy, unions asked for the removal of the 2011-2014 industrial plan Fincantieri revealed on May 23rd.  This plan provided for 2,551 job cuts –...
Spain: employers and unions break off talks on the reform of collective bargaining
Turnaround in the home run.  Employers and union representatives spoke at separate press conferences and blamed each other for the failure of talks.  Negotiations went off on Monday, May 30th...
Poland: the social partners are working on a model of policies against moral harassment at work for businesses
The existing law (article 94.1 of the Labor Code) imposes that employers prevent moral harassment at work.  However, legislation on the matter, quite recent, doesn’t give businesses the references...
Germany: court cancels all agreements negotiated by the Union of Christian Unions in the temporary industry (CGZP)
A union definitely out of the game.  The ruling issued last Monday by the Employment Tribunal of Berlin includes the arguments of the ruling issued last December by the BAG (see our dispatch No. ...
Italy: 19th annual Istat report reveals Italy’s “weaknesses”
The “Italian system” seems “more vulnerable” than in the past because, to face the biggest crisis in 60 years, the Italian economy and society” have greatly eaten into their reserves.”  However...
Great Britain: Unite union launches survey on stress and mental troubles at work
70 million days lost.  Workers' mental health is coming under increasing pressure as fears over jobs and cuts take their toll in the workplace, says Unite, the country's biggest union.  Thus...
Spain: U-turn in CEOE employers’ organization jeopardizes agreement on collective bargaining reform
The general secretaries of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and UGT, respectively Ignacio Fernandez Toxo and Candido Mendez, formally received, on May 30th, the text brought to the table by the CEOE’s...
Alstom: management and unions disagree on the assessment of the company’s economic situation
Management troubles.  Since the announcement, on March 22nd, of another restructuring program in the transport unit (see our dispatch No.  110196), debates have resumed within Alstom’s EWC about...
Italy: Eni signs two key agreements for its restructuring in Italy
The decline in global demand for oil products and competition from Asian countries have driven Eni Group to take action in order to “ensure the competitiveness of the system” and increase...
Germany: not all employees are on the same boat as regards holiday bonuses
Extremely different holiday bonuses.  As an introduction, the WSI indicates that a great majority of German employees receive a holiday bonus, but that they are only entitled to it if it was...
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