Thales: transnational bargaining on professional development
After Areva and Schneider Electric, the French group Thales (68.000 employees), world leader in mission-critical information systems for the Aerospace, Defense and Security markets, is opening...
ArcelorMittal: the EWC monitors local bargaining for voluntary leaves
On December 15, Arcelor's management and the secretariat of the EWC stated, in a joint declaration, that they wanted "to strengthen the social dialogue national and local level in relation to...
Italy: the Fiom’s central council confirms the general strike in the metallurgy sector on February 13
Gathered in Rome on January 13, the central council of the Fiom, the largest metalworkers’ union in Italy, approved four resolutions, including opposition to the government’s proposition to...
Germany: statutory minimum wage for six new sectors
Outside talks at the summit between Angela Merkel and her democrat social partners, bargaining for the details of a historical revival program (see our dispatch No. 090037), the parties of the...
Germany: railroaders and public employees open collective bargaining for 2009
The first collective negotiations for 2009 started with wage claims up to 8% for railroaders and employees from local public administrations. In spite of the downturn and the disastrous economic...
General Motors Europe: agreement with the EWC to reduce working time and avoid collective redundancies
While the German auto sector has been multiplying appeal to partial unemployment, the Opel car manufacturer, German subsidiary of general motors Europe, is in turn about to reduce working time. GM...
Italy: in Milan, unions and local authorities create a fund to help workers in danger of social exclusion
The Milan city hall and the CGIL, Cisl and Uil unions presented to the press, on January 12, 2009, the Fondazione per il Welfare Ambrosiano. The creation of this foundation was proposed by...
Poland: creation of a Confederation of Metalworkers’ Unions
On January 7, 2009, the representatives of three metalworkers' unions (the Federation of foundry unions, the union of electro mechanic industry, the Federation of "Metalworkers'" unions) approved...
Germany: Gesamtmetall wants the government to give more support to “employment pacts” signed in businesses
The tariff agreement on job security (Tarifvertrag Beschäftigungssicherung) in force in the metallurgy and electronics sector, enabling companies facing a dropping demand to reduce working time...
Spain: interview of Francisco Aranda, leader of the Association of Large Temporary Employment Agencies (AGETT)
are getting ready to bargain for a reform of public employment services and will mention, in this respect, the extension of temporary work agencies’ competences (see our dispatch No...
BNP Paribas/Fortis: cooperation between the two groups’ EWCs and unions
Whereas the fate of the takeover of the Belgian bank Fortis by the French BNP Paribas banking group is hanging on the court rulings expected in Belgium, the two banks' EWCs keep meeting "so these...
Unicredit: the bank embarks on vocational training
The EWC and the management of the Unicredit group adopted, in mid-December a joint declaration on "training, learning and professional development". Training is set as a fundamental value for the...
Belgium: the social partners adopt the 2009-10 interprofessional agreement
On December 22, 2008, the Belgian social partners adopted the 2009-10 interprofessional agreement, in cooperation with the government, which reconciles unions' major claims concerning the growth...
Mexico: 4.6% minimum wage increase after lobbying by companies trying to moderate remunerations to save jobs
Unions are expressing their discontent after this increased deemed limited, below the inflation increase curve. According to the commission in charge of arbitrating negotiations and defining...
Netherlands: manager gets his golden parachute in court
Jan Peter Schmittmann, 52, former leader of the Dutch operations of the ABN Amro bank, obtained, on December 30, 2008, an €8-million leave bonus. His employer, the second largest bank in the...
G4S: international framework agreement
The body of the agreement states that employees “have the right to organize unions in a free and fair atmosphere.” The local management is invited to facilitate union members’ access to G4S’...
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...