Spain: Renault Valladolid site saved
Suspense over for Valladolid employees. Jean-Pierre Laurent, CEO of Renault Spain, confirmed that the group’s executive committee decided to allocate the production of two new vehicles to the...
Finland: the scandal of political parties’ funding questions the ties between the latter and union organizations
Belated transparency. The scandal worsened over the past few weeks when the Finnish press revealed that the current Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen (center party), received, during the campaign for...
Luxembourg: one-year status quo for the banking collective agreement
The banking collective agreement in Luxembourg should last for one more year, with no wage increase. Nevertheless, it will ensure the payment of seniority levels for some categories of workers and...
Inditex: international agreement promoting decent labor and collective rights
The agreement signed by Uni Global Union and Inditex on October 2 was prepared in Spain. The two major Spanish trade federations, CHTJ-UGT and Fecoht-CCOO, which initiated the text, rejoice with...
Italy: CGIL launches fall mobilizations
“Inappropriate” government policy. Gathered in Rome on September 30, the CGIL’s general management said that the Finance Act presented to the social partners was “inappropriate.” It mostly points...
Denmark: the blockade at the Valbi construction site settled with collective agreements signed for the posted Polish workers
Winning blockade. The massive mobilization from unemployment members of 3 F Bygge, Jord og Miljøarbejdernes Fagforening (BJMF) and of other LO unions who refused to work or to deliver equipment...
Luxembourg: interprofessional agreement on harassment and violence at work
Definition. The agreement says that “moral harassment happens when a person from the company repeatedly and/or deliberately makes faulty activities towards an employee or a manager, leading to the...
Brazil: subcontracting employees in Sao Paulo get a 6.53% wage increase
On Monday, September 28, most of the 60,000 metalworkers in Sao Paulo, on strike for ten days, obtained a 6.53% wage increase, i.e. a real 2% increase after removing inflation, and a bonus...
Sweden: employers and union confederations reveal their goals before the renewal of many collective agreements in 2010
Unions don’t want employees to “pay” anymore. The current context isn’t very prone to unions. Since the economic crisis began, they already had to make numerous sacrifices, like Scania’s employees...
Germany: IG-Metall says the crisis and environmental turn compel to rethink metalworkers’ working time
Massive and durable decline in employment load. “We have to find new working time schemes allowing a) to answer individual flexibility needs and b) to take account of workers’ wage situation” the...
Unicredit: global union alliance within the group
Improved cooperation. Last week, 13 national unions and the members of Unicredit’s EWC launched a global union alliance. In a communiqué, UNI Finance said that the rapid integration of European...
Germany: for the first time, Volkswagen’s collective agreement includes a variable wage component based on performance
Towards more flexible wages. Disappointed that the group’s management refused claims accepted by Audi and Porsche, the IG-Metall threatened, last week, with launching warning strikes (see our...
Sweden: end of State pharmaceutical monopoly and first controversial collective agreement
Two agreements to regulate this “new” sector. The entire drugstore network, which used to be controlled by Apoteket AB (State owned), was dismantled on July 1, 2009. The State sold 150 pharmacies...
Germany: industrial cleaning employers’ federation blocks the renewal of sectoral minimum wage
The minimum wage agreement negotiated in 2008 by the social partners in industrial cleaning will expire on September 30, 2009. Yet, the sector's employers completely reject unions' claim - a...
Chile: collective bargaining reform postponed to 2010
Employment and economic recovery override labor law reform. After disagreements within the government coalition (composed of four parties), Chilean President Michelle Bachelet decided to suspend...
Italy: Filcem-CGIL launches collective bargaining for over 500,000 employers in four sectors
Waiting for a “universal collective bargaining system.” After presenting a separate platform in electricity (see our dispatch No. 090705), the Filcem-CGIL is now presenting four new claim...
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...