Netherlands: employers play the waiting game for the renewal of collective agreements
Everything can still change before June 9th, even if the VVD’s liberals are very high in the polls. No clear coalition seems to be taking shape, and it may take weeks, or even months, which is...
Portugal: CGTP gathers 200,000 participants for a national demonstration in Lisbon against severity and threats to employment
Strong mobilization. The CGTP was hoping that 200,000 people would mobilize and said that 300,000 did after the gathering, although several independent analysts object to this figure. The national...
Spain: the government will present its own labor market reform since the social partners couldn’t reach an agreement
Failing a last-minute surprise, it seems that employers and unions couldn’t reach an agreement. In the absence of an agreement, the government warned that it would take the initiative and present...
Carrefour: the brand new international union alliance calls for a joint assessment of the framework agreement
Tense relations. On May 20 and 21, the international alliance of union networks, UNI Carrefour, created in October 2009, met for the first time in Nyon, on the border between France and...
Germany: Ver.di signs a learning agreement with First Mail, low-cost mail delivery subsidiary of Deutsche Post
From 15 to 1,000 apprentices in three years. “First Mail announcing that it wants to bring the number of apprentices from 15 to 1,000 in a year concerns us” explained Maik Brandenburger, spokesman...
Italy: 24bn euros economic “maneuver” approved by the Council of Ministers and causes protests
“The crisis is forcing all countries to reduce the public debt, so our measures aim to bring the ratio between deficit and GDP from 5% currently down to 2.7% in 2012” declared Silvio Berlusconi...
Great Britain: CWU union threatens BT with a strike because of disagreements on the wage increase
High profit. The staff representatives of the BT telecom firm voted an emergency motion during the annual conference of the CWU. BT’s annual results, published on May 13th, take stock of ₤1bn...
Great Britain: statutory union recognition is about to blow its tenth candle
Despite the arrival of a new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, it seems certain there is no immediate threat to the continued existence of a key plank of the previous Labour government’s...
Italy: key independent unions “connected” within the USB, the Association of Basic Unions
“Unite your struggles.” It is under this slogan that Rete di Base (RdB), Sindacato dei Lavoratori (SdL) and several units of the Confederazione Unitaria di Base (Cub) created the new Association...
Sweden: the Teknikföretagen employers’ organization terminates the collective agreement in the industry, by which it won’t be covered after October 31, 2010
A collective agreement failing its initial mission. This framework collective agreement, also known as “cooperation agreement on the development of the industry and on wages” was signed in March...
International: International Metalworkers’ Federation works on new union strategy
In December 2009, the IMF’s executive committee decided to improve its strategy regarding multinationals. In particular, the federation observed that its union grid was incomplete and said that it...
Germany: German employers choose minimum wage over “Polish plumbers”
Fear of the Polish plumber is back. In addition to the major concerns about the impact of the “Greek crisis” on the Euro, the national economic and employment, the German social partners and...
Netherlands: 1% wage increase for all agency workers
An agreement was reached on May 19th between the ABU, which accounts for 370 members and 60% of the temporary labor market in the Netherlands, the Federation of Christian Unions (CNV...
Netherlands: positive agreement at Sara Lee to sweeten a social plan
A 1% wage increase, a €75 annual bonus, the possibility to take five unpaid days off, a permanent contract after 3 or 6 months of interim “if there are jobs to fulfill….” The agreement in...
Germany: Ver.di launches new offensive to impose “new” minimum pay in the postal sector
Wage dumping. On January 1, 2008, the federal government imposed, in a decree, that all postal business apply minimum wage, ranging between €8 and €9.8 an hour, negotiated between Ver.di and an...
Italy: 7th national congress of the Slai Cobas independent union ends with the conclusion that it is necessary to build a “strong class union”
Analysis of the crisis. According to the union, the right-wing, the opposition and confederal unions follow joint “strategic lines” aiming, in the end, to maintain the current economic and...
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...
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...
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...