Great Britain: TUC union wants to inform students about unions’ role
Inform via the web.  This is an unprecedented initiative: schools and colleges teachers now have access to learning tools about unions’ role, via a free website accessible to all...
Romania: Social Code to regulate collective industrial relations passed and declared constitutional
Approval of the Code.  The Constitutional Court removed the last obstacle to the promulgation of the Social Code when declaring, on the evening of Wednesday, May 4th, that the five laws it is...
Germany: sharp decline in the number of industrial conflicts in 2010
Quick agreement with the crisis in the background.  In April 2008, the WSI institute presented a very different report, pointing to a substantial increase in the number of strikes in Germany (see...
Italy: 87.63% of employees of the former Carrozzerie Bertone accept the conditions set out by Fiat to save their job
"We won’t allow a divide between those who want to work and those who want to defend their rights, because we all started this fight together, and we will continue fighting together.  We won’t let...
Portugal: union mobilization against worsening social atmosphere
Demonstration.  After a May Day parade full of slogans against the intervention of the International Monetary Fund and of the European Central Bank, the CGTP (General Confederation of Portuguese...
Belgium: agreement on draft new collective agreement in clothing industry
Purchasing power.  The future agreement, valid between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012, provides for a €0.50 increase in meal tickets on April 1, 2012.  The 2011-2012 cross-industry...
Italy: unitary strike on May Day in the commerce sector
While the CGIL, Cisl and Uil celebrated May Day with a national unitary demonstration in Marsala, Sicily (where Garibaldi’s expedition of the Thousand landed in 1861 when conquering Italy)...
Portugal: struggle between businesses and unions about opening some stores on May Day
Trial of strength.  The CESP, union of trade and services, accused the stores’ managements of blackmailing workers with loosing their jobs.  To try and foil the plan to open on May Day, the union...
Spain: higher unemployment and cooperation between unions and courts help lower the number of industrial accidents
The decline in economic activity led to a mechanic decrease in the number of accidents.  Occupational safety representatives from the CCOO and UGT unions, Pedro J Linares and Marisa Rufino, and...
Denmark: 3F union strengthens action against social dumping
With an ad published in the Fakt polish magazine (over 2 million readers), with the picture of a man on a hospital bed, the 3F union launched, on April 19th, its first advertising campaign against...
28 April 2011
Italy: after a 9th legal victory over the application of the metal CCN born from the separate 2009 agreement, the Fiom puts appeals on hold in favor of bargaining
“This verdict, combined with that of Turin, shows that separate agreements add problems rather than solving them.”  This is how the Fiom-CGIL presented the verdict by the court of Modena on April...
Great Britain: battle of figures on deaths caused by industrial accidents just before the “Workers’ Memorial Day”
Workers’ Memorial Day. The day is to commemorate those that have died, been injured or made ill through their work, with the headline slogan ‘Remember the dead – fight for the...
27 April 2011
Netherlands: agreement in principle in heavy metal
The metal employers’ organization, FME-CWM (3,000 members), affiliated with the Federation of Netherlands Industries and Employers (VNO-NCW), signed an agreement in principle with the trade unions...
Spain: Iberdrola to sign agreement with unions to link wage increases with productivity
This new reference should replace the clause on the systematic review of wages in relation to inflation and the price index.  It will be added to the new collective agreement, currently in the...
Germany: the length of sick leaves for psychological reasons was multiplied by 9 since 2004
From 8.1 to 72.3 days of sick leave.  The scientific institute (Wido) of the AOK – the largest health insurance fund in Germany with nearly 19 million members – assessed the sick leaves of 10.1...
26 April 2011
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
France: Bayer puts female health and inclusive parenthood at the centre of its equality policy
In a new agreement on gender equality highlighted by mind RH, Bayer commits to strengthening its parenthood policy. Furthermore, the company is anticipating pay transparency and introducing...
25 September 2026
2
Germany: Volkswagen cancels almost all collective bargaining agreements signed with IG Metall
The Volkswagen brand announced on 30 September that it is terminating 10 of its 13 internal collective bargaining agreements, effective 31 December 2026. The announcement, which the carmaker...
1 October 2026
3
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
4
Germany: Employers’ representatives seek to limit the rights of works councils
The Employers' Federation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände - BDA) published a report at the end of September in which it proposes a...
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026