Netherlands: FNV wants “labor policy” and an “update to the Finnish level”
On Friday, October 15th, the FNV responded to the announcement of the new government which, at the request of right-wing populist Geert Wilders, is going to launch a new special police unit, with...
Germany: employers are afraid the immigration controversy is going to affect the recruitment of skilled foreign workers
Base immigration on the labor market’s needs. “The German economy needs skilled workers” reminded, once again, the head of the employers’ confederation, Dieter Hundt, this week end, protesting...
18 October 2010
Austria: metal employers deceive unions at the first collective bargaining meeting
Yesterday, in Vienna, the metal employers announced that they were no longer ready to discuss flexible working time within the framework of collective negotiations, which just opened and which...
Great Britain: new online service to help businesses recruit disabled people
Created by and for businesses.  “Disability Clearkit” was born after three years of research by the 220 organizations working in association with the Department for Work and Pension (DWP), to...
14 October 2010
Netherlands: Henk Kamp is the new Minister of Social Affairs
The largest employers’ organization, the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW) rejoiced with the appointment of Henk Kamp, “a man with great experience,” as the previous...
Italy: “egg attacks” against the Cisl and Uil’s headquarters stigmatize the Fiom-CGIL
“Better one egg today than no rights tomorrow.”  This message, written with red nail polish on the gates of the Cisl’s headquarters in the roman quarter of Garbatella, is the “nicest” of the...
Denmark: union membership is decreasing, threatening the Danish model
1,045,000 employees (39%) aren’t members of a union organization that signed an agreement.  Among these, one in three (versus one in four in 1995) isn’t a union member at all.  It’s the first time...
Germany: the two major rail unions announce a series of warning strikes starting on October 25th
Warning strikes and employers’ anger.  In an ultimatum presented in mid-September (see our dispatch No. 100648), Transnet and GDBA warned that, if the employers of the key private operators in...
Rhodia: interview with Bernard Chambon, President of Rhodia Chemistry, and Jacques Kheliff, sustainable development director
global agreement with the International Federation of Chemical Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), Rhodia stands out with its early commitment in terms of CSR. In an interview...
Italy: CGIL denounces new blow to health and safety at work regulations
According to the National Institution for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Inail), industrial accidents are decreasing.  In 2009, 790,000 were listed (as opposed to 875,144 in 2008), 1,050 of...
13 October 2010
Sweden: Sandvik allows workers and executives to arrange the end of their career after 61
Equalitarian agreement.  Flexible end of career at Sandvik was introduced in 2003, but for workers aged 62 only.  It took longer to set up the process for executives because the union’s young...
12 October 2010
Italy: the two poles of Italian unionism demonstrated in Turin and Rome on Saturday
“Over 100,000 demonstrators” (police say 50,000) were gathered by the Cisl and Uil on the Piazza del Popolo in Rome on Saturday, October 9th to ask the government for a table on the “fiscal...
Sweden: unions agree on the principle of restructuring Posten Norden but criticize the modalities
Necessary restructuring because of drop in mail volume.  Aside from the announcement of the appointment of a new chair, a restructuring program was presented on September 29th.  It should apply...
11 October 2010
United States: General Motors reinvests in Detroit
From south Korea to the US.  The management of General Motors decided to make its new compact car in the US, after securing new pay concessions from the United Auto Workers (UAW). “No American...
Portugal: general strike against austerity on November 24th
Almost unseen movement.  This is extremely rare in Portugal, it has only happened once, in 1988, against the labor laws of Cavaco Silva’s administration (current President of the Republic).  The...
Italy: CGIL presents social dampers reform
Simplifying the Italian unemployment insurance system, extending protection to workers who don’t have it, and make it all financially bearable.  This is the goal of the social dampers reform...
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