Portugal: government proposes raising minimum wage to 475 euros in 2010
hly minimum wage amounting to 475 euros in 2010, to apply the commitment taken with the social partners in 2006. This proposal still needs to be discussed by the social dialog committee. (Ref...
Great Britain: unionized employees earn 12.5% more than their non-unionized colleagues, TUC says
The Union Advantage report published by TUC is aimed at encouraging employees to join a trade union. It also shows that it is also good for employers to facilitate union activity in their firm.
Sweden: unions and employer fight over part-time in retail and trade for 2010 negotiations
‘ organization in retail and trade, responded strongly to the claim presented by the sector’s union, Handels, to introduce a right to full time work into collective agreements. The...
Germany: thirteenth month globally higher in 2009 than in 2008
After analyzing 23 major sectoral agreements, the WSI concluded that 2009’s 13th month should be much higher than in 2008. In concrete terms, these increases range between 1.5 and 7.3%, i.e...
Austria: trade partners agree on wage increases between 1.5 and 1.8%
When presenting the terms of the wage agreement negotiated for the 570,000 workers in trade (including wholesale pharmaceutical trade), Manfred Wolf, negotiator for the GPA union, is mostly happy...
Finland: in spite of the crisis, wage increases in chemistry are higher than the top limits recommended by employers’ organizations
This is an important result. Indeed, by a schedule coincidence, the period for the application of most collective agreement in Finland negotiated between 2006 and 2008 will expire in early 2010...
Areva: EWC denounces bad sales conditions for workers at its T&D branch
Social concerns. By announcing, on November 30, the beginning of exclusive negotiations with Alstom/Schneider Electric, Areva ended several weeks of faux suspense around the sale of its T&D...
Italy: Fiom-CGIL presents popular own-initiative bill on union democracy
Popular own-initiative bill. As of January 2010, the Fiom will start, in factories and regions, collecting the 50,000 signatures it needs to present its popular own-initiative bill for union...
Hungary: two new acts revise the functioning of tripartite and sectoral social dialog structures
arian Constitutional Court questioning the co-determination right granted to national and sectoral social dialog structures, the Hungarian Parliament adopted two acts revising the powers of these...
Germany: IG BCE chemistry union sets the maintenance of employment as its priority for 2010 collective bargaining
“So far, the social partners in the chemical industry have managed to overcome the crisis without any major layoff wave. And we need, as much as we can, to keep it this way” explained Peter...
Italy: preparations for the next CGIL Congress uncover the internal conflict
tional executive committee on November 23 launched the preparations for the confederation’s 16th Congress, in Rimini on May 5-8, 2010, during which the two conflicting programs will be...
Great Britain: government accepts the recommendations of the report on the reform of the banking sector
Expected publication of the final report. In February 2009, the government asked Sir David Walker to study the finance sector, and the final recommendations regarding the reform of corporate...
Germany: the congress of the employers’ organisation BDA confirms the exceptional understanding between the social partners
The employers want to fight for collective agreements. Dieter Hundt, BDA’s President, who was re-elected for 2 years, surprised everybody while announcing that his goal “is from now on to work for...
Spain: Minister for Economic Affairs and social partners ready to carry the labor market reform forward
These separate meetings between the Minister and the social partners took place on Friday, November 27, after the Council of Ministers approved the government’s new economic program (ley de...
Italy: new organization intends to represent SMEs’ interest
within the “Italian union of social and corporate representation” to draw politicians’ attention to SMEs’ ties and wants to reconcile economic and social issues. (Ref...
Great Britain: new agreement in engineering construction gives preference to the employment of local workforce
New agreement for 2010-11. Quiet is finally back in a sector which should make at least ten nuclear reactors by 2030. Almost 30,000 workers voted yes to an agreement on wages and working...
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...