Spain: rail unions to escort the decentralization of the management of Barcelona’s rail system
Social conflict has been avoided in Spanish railways thanks to an agreement signed between the Ministry for Transportation and rail unions (see our dispatch No. 090523). The agreement defines the...
Italy: chemistry unions announce national strike on June 24
National strike on June 24. On may 27, in Rome, the Filcem-CGIL, Femca-Cisl and Uilcem-Uil unions, together with unitary trade union representation bodies (RSUs) of the chemistry and pharmacy...
Denmark: LO union presents strategy to reduce the gender pay gap
“The 20% gender pay gap is proof that we are far from parity in Denmark” said Lizette Risgaard, LO VP, when presenting the union’s strategy to reduce this gap. During the 2007 Congress (see our...
Spain: CCOO union says collective bargaining is dragging on
Stuck negotiations. The union says that 1,726 expired collective agreements still haven’t been renewed and processes are complicated because employers don’t want to include the clause on wage...
Germany: wage agreement for 170,000 printing workers
35-hour week maintained. Verdi is also happy because the social partners agreed to extend to December 31, 2010 the framework agreement on employment conditions (Manteltarifvertrag). Afterwards...
Estonia: unions mobilize against the revision of the law on employment contracts
nions, the Confederation of Estonian Unions (EAKL, Eesti Ametiuhingute Keskliit), announced a national strike for June 16, to protests against the new law on labor contracts. It wants to bargain...
Italy: social partners and local government in Emilia-Romagna sign innovative agreement on crisis management
Consultation method. The agreement establishes a consultation system for crisis management, supporting employment and businesses to avoid layoffs. It provides for the conclusion of agreements in...
Portugal: tough negotiations at VW Autoeuropa in Lisbon on the six-day week
Negotiations on the introduction of more working time flexibility to maintain employment at Autoeuropa's factory around Lisbon resumed, on June 2, after a break at the end of May. The social...
Finland: unions divided on the introduction of minimum wage
Debate is open. Mikko Mäenpää, leader of the STTK confederation (white collars), which mostly represents executives in the public and in the private sector, said that Mr. Lyly’s proposition is a...
Italy: suppliers’ solidarity strike stopped production at Fiat’s Melfi factory
Termination of agency workers’ contracts. The conflict broke out when Magneti Marelli (Fiat) announced that it wouldn’t renew almost 70 temporary contracts which came to an end on May 31 in two...
Belgium: first demonstration outside negotiations of the auxiliary joint employees committee
h-speaking federations of the Christian trade union, the CNE and the LBC-NVK, protest against the ongoing talks within the joint committee 218, a collective bargaining structure gathering all...
International: 32nd IMF Congress recognizes a role to southern organizations
On May 2528, the representatives of 200 organizations from around 100 countries met in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the 32nd Congress of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF). In addition to...
E.ON Energy Trading: German company becomes a SE
This is a first in the German energy sector. E.ON Energy Trading, a subsidiary of the German energy giant E.ON, is the first German company to turn into a European Company (SE). After signing, on...
Sweden: Scania signs company agreement cutting working time and wages
the heavyweight and bus manufacturer Scania announced the conclusion of a collective agreement establishing the four-day week and a 10% wage cut for six months. The two largest union organizations...
Enel: Italian energy group publishes CSR agreement
Singed on April 27 by the group's management, the Filcem-Cgil, Flaei-Cisl, Uilcem Italian unions (see our dispatch No. 090504), Enel's Corporate Social Responsibility Protocol is mostly based on...
Great Britain: because of the crisis and decreasing ranks, unions lay off
The recession doesn't affect businesses only. Unite, one of the largest trade unions in the UK, announced a 20% budget cut. Therefore, layoffs are planned, like at the Public and Commercial...
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...