Great Britain: shop workers’ union alarmed about the categorization of shops as low-risk workplaces
Context.  In preparation for the simplification of health and safety regulations (see our dispatch No.  110189) and following a consultation organized by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)...
Great Britain: British Airways employees vote to back strike action to protest against the management’s retaliation against the strike movement in 2010
The original dispute of 2009 concerned staffing levels and the unilateral imposition of change relating to this. However, those issues have been largely settled, with the new issues emerging of...
29 March 2011
Spain: limiting appeal to temporary work in high voltage electricity
According to CCOO’s manufacturing federation, “it would have been bad both for the interests of maintenance and assembly employees and for the interests of the businesses themselves if risky work...
Italy: executive committee of the Cisl’s metal federation, Fim, defines priorities for 2011
The national executive committee of the Fim-Cisl, gathered in Rome on March 23rd, almost unanimously approved (3 abstentions) its strategy for the coming months, asking its secretariat to draw up...
Netherlands: the fate of precarious workers at the center of ongoing negotiations for collective agreements
“Permanent contracts have to remain the rule.”  This is a priority for the FNV, the country’s key union Confederation, and its member federations stick to it: in all the collective agreements...
Great Britain: great turnout for TUC demonstration against government austerity policy
The turnout was considerably higher than the 100,000 the TUC had predicted in the weeks running up to the demonstration. The breadth of those participating was extensive from unions to pensioner...
Germany: Verdi union and Deutsche Telekom agree on increases ranging between 3.15 and 5.15%
The intervention of a mediator, four meetings in three months and several warning strikes were necessary for the social partners to agree on wage increase counting among the highest increases...
Brazil: unions satisfied with the outcome of 2010 collective bargaining
The study published by the interunion department of statistics and socioeconomic studies (DIEESE) analyzes the 700 wage negotiations, including collective agreements negotiated at sectoral level...
Alstom: unions worried about non-compliance with European framework agreement on the anticipation of change
Restructuring.  On March 22nd, the French group Alstom presented a restructuring program for its transport unit, providing for 1,380 job cuts in Germany, Spain and Italy.  “This program is...
Italy: right wing union Confederation, UGL, is celebrating its 60th birthday
“The UGL is moving with devotion and humility through small and large negotiations, never feeling inferior, with a high growth – 14.7% – in 2010.”  It is by pointing to this “extraordinary result...
Portugal: “temporary” agreement between the social partners on the program for the improvement of competitiveness and employment
“Heaven-sent agreement.”  The social partners were quite reluctant to the idea of signing an agreement with a government ‘on death row.’  The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP)...
Belgium: textile social partners negotiate 2011-2012 collective agreements
Margin.  Talks opened on March 14th within equal committee No. 109, which covers the 20,000 people working in clothing.  It gathers sectoral representatives from the key unions in Belgium, CSC...
Denmark: government and opposition agree on 2012-2020 working environment strategy
The agreement on the strategy for the working environment 2020, signed yesterday, march 22nd, between the government, the social-democratic party, the Danish People’s Party and the radical left...
23 March 2011
Sweden: after tough start for the “Brev 2010” cost cutting program, the management of the Swedish Post commits to review work organization
A program hard to implement.  The objective of the “Brev 2010” program is to lower personnel costs in the services of “Posten Meddelande” (message post) via the automation of the sorting system...
22 March 2011
Italy: two key organizations of senior managers join forces
The national federation of managers of manufacturing firms, Federmanager, and the national federation of managers, executives and professionals in trade, transportation, tourism, services and...
Portugal: difficult social dialogue on employment and competitiveness without the CGTP
Difficult social dialogue.  The CGTP left social talks on the program for employment and competitiveness launched by José Socrates’ socialist administration at the beginning of this year.  The...
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