Germany: IG BCE chemistry union demands a higher wage increase than that secured for metalworkers
Very differentiated situation. This is the third large collective bargaining round this year, after metalworking and electrical engineering (see our dispatch No. 100156) and the civil service (see...
Areva, Alstom/Schneider Electric: European negotiation on social guarantees in the framework of the sale of Areva T&D
Social guarantees for T&D employees. The European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) received a unanimous mandate from its members present in the three companies affected by the operation. Thus...
Germany: union competition in the temporary sector leads to a high pay raise for employees
Union race. In fact, the BZA employers’ organization announced, on January 26, 2010, that it signed a collective agreement with the DGB for the approximately 200,000 employees of the BZA’s member...
Poland: union and employers’ organizations are “renewing” their representativeness
Proven representativeness. Initially, the founding text for union representativeness – Act of July 6, 2001 regarding the tripartite committee and regional social dialog committees – recognized as...
Great Britain: Royal Mail unions and management sign an agreement on the company’s modernization
Voluntary leaves. After weeks of conflict, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), stepped in, in November, to act as a mediator between Royal Mail and the CWU (see our dispatch...
Italy: electricity social partners renew national collective agreement with a unitary agreement
“This is a major outcome, achieved thanks to the resoluteness of union organizations which, during these months of difficult negotiations with employers’ organizations and businesses in the...
Sweden: threatened with union boycott, Accor Ticket Rikskuponger AB’s subsidiary is forced to negotiate a collective agreement
Effective boycott call. In the fall of 2009, the LO union confederation found out that 25 of its members weren’t covered by a collective agreement in the company where they worked, Ticket...
Denmark: transport social partners renew national collective agreement
The social partners in the transport sector, 3F for unions and Dansk Industri (DI) for employers, signed an agreement for the renewal of the collective agreement. Affecting nearly 900 businesses...
Morocco: call centers, haunted by turnover, are creating tools to keep their employees
Pay is a driving force. With 4,000-5,000 dirham when they start (€354-442.4) wages are already three times higher than local minimum wage. This is a godsend for young Moroccans looking for a first...
Spain: CEOE leader lays draft labor market reforms on the table
Recruitment. To have it done with a segmented market, he proposes a new permanent contract with intermediary benefits. Before, employers often talked of 20 to 25 days instead of the current 45...
Spain: agreement in chemistry to extend of one year the sectoral collective agreement and postponed the wage revision clause to the end of 2010
No renegotiation of the framework collective agreement in chemistry. The social partners in chemistry agreed that they wouldn’t open negotiations for a new collective agreement. The Federation of...
Venezuela: gradual 25% minimum wage increase after currency devaluation
On Monday, March 1, the decree establishing a partial 10% minimum wage increase in Venezuela was enforced. After the devaluation of the national currency, Bolívar, in January 2010, the Chavez...
Finland: union mergers coming up in banking and rail transport
TU and Suora want to merge to create the largest trade union of executive and clerical staff. TU and Suora (finance, insurance, alcohol trade and games of chance employees) should merge. The two...
Shoprite Checkers: the supermarket chain is the second African company to sign an international framework agreement
Growing company. Shoprite Checkers is a growing South African company. After Africa, Europe and India, the first African supermarket retailer wants to go to the other continents. The international...
Spain: the war between employers’ leaders encourages metal employers to present its candidate for the presidency of the CEPYME, the confederation of SMEs
The election, in May, of the President of the Confederation of Small and Medium-Size Businesses (CEPYME), lets the personal conflicts between the leader of the CEOE and his counterpart from...
Germany: tough compromise on the wage agreement for employees of the Federal State and Towns and their businesses
3-step wage increase. Reached after a conciliation procedure, the agreement provides for a first 1.2% wage increase on January 1, 2010, followed by a 0.6% wage increase on January 1, 2011 and 0.5%...
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...