Luxembourg: social tension around severity measures
The OGBL, Luxembourg’s independent union confederation, the LCGB, the federation of Luxembourg’s Christian unions, the ALEBA, the union of banking employees, the FNCTTFEL, representing public...
Portugal: unions open talks on 2011 wage increases after a “frozen” year because of the crisis
Calculated claims.  The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP, close to the communist party, PCP), proposed a 3.5% wage increase in 2011, with a €25 monthly increase for the lowest...
7 September 2010
Italy: Poste Italiane could be the first company to try employee profit-sharing
Board participation remains the most controversial part for the introduction of an Italian profit-sharing system (see our dispatches No. 091144 and 100557), with an employers’ organization...
International: interview of Jerry Fernandez, American president of the transatlantic union federation, Workers Uniting
at Britain, and the United Steelworkers Union (USW), United States, decided to join forces within Workers Uniting to be more active against multinationals and better face the multiple relocation...
Great Britain: fewer employers support pension auto-enrolment
Context.  The “Pensions Act 2008” introduced measures to boost private savings, notably via a reform of corporate pension funds.  As of 2012, employers will systematically have to enroll eligible...
6 September 2010
Romania: tough minimum wage negotiations
No consensus on minimum wage.  Despite a new meeting earlier this week, the trade unions and representatives from the Romanian Finance Ministry haven’t reached an agreements on the minimum wage...
PPR: group takes European commitment on the quality of life at work and the prevention of work-related stress
Philippe Decressac, HR senior vice-president of the group, “is happy with this endorsement” and pointed out that “more than psycho-social risks, the point was the quality of life at work and the...
United States: Human Rights Watch bashes European firms’ anti-union behavior in the US
Most corporations Human Rights Watch is pointing the finger at have endorsed the industrial relations guidelines of the OECD.  They endorse the core labor standards of the ILO and the United...
3 September 2010
Italy: Confindustria and Federmeccanica are willing to amend the metal CCN so Fiat will remain in the employers’ organization
Suspense in the Italian industry before Federmeccanica’s management meets on September 7th and announces what the metal employers’ organization chose to keep Fiat from leaving and allow for the...
United States: American unions gather to prepare the November elections
A new partnership.  For the AFL CIO and SEIU, these political actions aren’t new.  The two organizations have the support of the Center for Responsive Politics, specialized in lobbying, and the...
Austria: unions demand drastic overtime limit
Talks on flexible working time and the management of overtime in Austria have been going on for over a year (see our dispatches No. 091007 and 100291) and have already greatly tainted the social...
Netherlands: still no coalition three months after the general election
Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party (PPV) is now setting the political rules in the Netherlands: it seems impossible to govern without it, because of its election results, but equally hard to govern with...
International: metal unions seek to improve strategy in Latin America
The meeting held on August 18 and 19 brought together representatives from the ASMIRA and UOM (Argentina), CNTM-FS and CMN-CUT (Brazil), and SITIMM (Mexico).  Manuel Campos, the IG-Metall...
Germany: IG-Metall demands 6% wage increase in the steel industry
Union says it’s a problem of equity.  Oliver Buckhard, leader of the IG-Metall in North-Rhine Westphalia, explained his union’s requirements by reminding that steel employees gave a lot during the...
Germany: the conditions for a sectoral agreement on minimum wage in regional rail transport are taking shape
After the second bargaining round for collective agreements at the Deutsche Bahn and in the rail industry, it is still impossible to say foretell the amount of wage increases for the 165,000...
Great Britain: Vestas and Linamar, two long conflicts, two different outcomes
In mid-July 2009, Vestas announced the closure of its two plants in the Isle of Wight, employing some 600 workers and citing the restrictive nature of planning laws in Britain as having choked off...
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