National industrial relations
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Germany: IG-Metall starts reform home stretch in pain
In January 2011, Kai Burmeister, young IG-Metall federal delegate, notably in chare of the weapon industry, didn’t sound happy: “I’m sorry, I’m not in charge of this case anymore. I am going to...
3 March 2011
GDF SUEZ: start of European negotiations on professional equality between men and women
The agreement on professional equality could be easier to negotiate than the creation of the negotiating body for this new European agreement, after than on working conditions and the anticipation...
2 March 2011
Italy: trade and services social partners renew the sector’s collective agreement via separate agreement
Valid between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2013, this new separate agreement for the renewal of the CCN in Services and Distribution aims to get local collective agreements going (currently...
2 March 2011
Germany: employers say hundreds of temporary work agencies could go bankrupt
By declaring, on December 14, 2010, that the Union of Christian Trade Unions in the temporary sector was “unfit” for signing collective agreements (see our dispatch No. 100890), the Federal Labor...
1 March 2011
Alstom: European agreement on the anticipation of change
Safeguarding employment in a period of crisis or structural change. To deal with the current crisis and its foreseeable impact, the agreement contains a commitment to avoid layoffs as much as...
1 March 2011
Spain: the social partners are making progress in the debate for the collective bargaining reform
Internal flexibility. Employers and unions agree on the goal and want to secure internal flexibility as the necessary answer to guarantee the viability of businesses. The whole problem is to...
1 March 2011
Spain: Nissan WC election confirms unions that supported competitiveness pacts negotiated with the management
In Barcelona, employees validated the pay and productivity pact. Employees clearly supported Sigen-USOC (workers’ union of Catalonia) and UGT, the two unions which supported a cost-cutting pact...
28 February 2011
Romania: ArcelorMittal employees to strike soon
Failed negotiations. The leaders of four unions of the plant of the steel giant ArcelorMittal in Galati, south-east Romania, announced the beginning of a general strike on March 10th. On...
28 February 2011
Sweden: Medlingsinstitutet publishes 2010 report and links Sweden’s competitiveness and “realistic” pay bargaining
2010 was particularly intense since nearly 550 collective agreements were negotiated for about 3.3 million workers. Besides, since most of these agreements expire on March 31, 2010, negotiations...
25 February 2011
Germany: unions launch national action day in 1,000 businesses for equal treatment between permanent and temporary employees
National action day for equal pay. True to their new strategy of involving employees more actively in the protection of their interest, and as a clear message to employers, German unions decided...
24 February 2011
Greece: protest is not getting weaker
Demonstrators massively answered unions’ call on Wednesday, marching in close ranks in the streets of Athens. Police say 30,000 came which organizers say between 60,000 and 100,000 came. For the...
24 February 2011
Finland: social partners commit to continue action organized since 2005 to reduce the gender pay gap
In a joint declaration published on February 10th, the key union confederations in Finland (SAK, STTK and Akava) and the key employers’ organizations in the public sector (churches, communities...
24 February 2011
Italy: Fiat keeps applying its model in Italian undertakings in spite of the Fiom-CGIL’s opposition
On February 15th, Fiat managing director Sergio Marchionne told the committee on productive activities of the Chamber of Deputies that Fiat’s “head” would remain in Turin provided that the...
24 February 2011
Great Britain: pay disputes spread because of increasing cost of living
The main factors explaining this considerable increase are the rise in the standard rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17.5% to 20% and the continued increase in the price of crude oil. With this...
23 February 2011
Germany: 130,000 employees in textile get a 3.6% wage increase
Union satisfaction. For the first time ever, the IG-Metall union and the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry (Gesamtverband textil + mode) managed to reach an agreement...
23 February 2011
Austria: Telekom Austria offers “golden early retirement” to its employees
800 requests for “golden early retirement” are currently pending at Telekom Austria’s personnel services. “The program is a total success. I think that, this year, 350 colleagues are going to...
22 February 2011
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