Argentina: inflation higher than wage increases
According to the human resources specialist, Ernst & Young, a huge majority of Argentinean businesses increased wages in 2009 for workers who aren’t covered by collective agreements. In a...
Italy: the Fiom’s central committee confirms mobilization against the separate agreement on the metalworking CCN
“Deeply negative judgment.” This is how the central committee of the Fiom, gathered on October 20, summarized its point of view on the agreement for the renewal of the CCN signed on October 15 by...
China: expats going home
Fewer expats. The big apartment on the 20th floor with a view on Shanghai’s skyscrapers seems pretty empty. After nine months living in China, Karine is quickly gathering her last boxes in the...
21 October 2009
RR Donnelley: EWC agreement
RR Donnelley’s special negotiating body and management signed an agreement establishing the EWC. This agreement is the result of three years of negotiations during which the company’s American...
Germany: Transnet and GDBA rail unions to increase cooperation to have more weight against the Deutsche Bahn
Two unions already quite close. To that end, on October 26 and 27, Transnet’s executive committee will meet, and the GDBA’s management will do the same on October 29 to talk about this...
Lithuania: minority unions revolt against the future national Pact
Minority unions’ discontent with the agreement… While the main unions (Confederation of Lithuanian Unions, Solidarumas, Labor Federation) don’t deny that they will soon sign, with the government...
Italy: focus on agreements between regions and unions to face the crisis
Regions’ effort against the crisis. Agreements concluded between Italian regions and the social partners since the beginning of the year allowed “completing, extending and gauge” about anti-crisis...
Italy: home stretch before the creation of a big chemistry, energy and textile federation within the CGIL
Planned merger. Ratified at the last CGIL congress in 2006, the merger of the Filcem (chemistry) and Filtea (textile) was slowed down by efforts against the crisis and the separate agreement on...
Germany: open strike in industrial cleaning
For a global 8.7% wage increase. An IG BAU spokesman told Planet Labor that the strike won’t take place at the same time or in all businesses, it will be “flexible and unpredictable.” It will...
Ireland: unions maintain pressure to enforce the wage agreement
Wage cut. Today, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, the Irish government will meet with the social partners for an informal meeting. The revival of negotiations on the national social pact for 2016...
Spain: the works council of Opel’s Figueruelas site rejects Magna’s plan and calls for a strike
The El Periodico daily in Aragon pointed out that 25,000 direct or indirect jobs depend on Opel Spain and launched a campaign entitled “For employment at Opel.” It says that the Spanish site...
Spain: metalworkers call for a strike on October 28
Sectoral consequence of the national fracture in social dialog. This call is the implementation of the strategy unions designed last summer after social dialog attempts failed and after they...
Italy: separate agreement for the renewal of the metalworking collective agreement
“One of the smoothest agreements in history.” This is how Roberto Santarelli, Federmeccanica’s chair, qualified the separate agreement for the renewal of the metalworking CCN, signed on October 15...
Great Britain: two-day national strike in postal sector
Mail will be totally blocked for several days. The CWU said that it made an offer to Royal Mail’s management, which the latter rejected without even looking into it. The company said the strike...
Portugal: two large employers’ associations merge to be more representative
Already contemplated in the past but never carried out, the merger between the AEP and AIP answers the need for organizational modernization and the “current national and international economic...
GDF Suez: EWC members elect a Belgian member as their secretary
On October 13, during the first meeting of GDF Suez’s EWC, recently created (see our dispatch No. 090489), the structure’s staff representatives elected a Belgian representative as secretary. His...
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...