Wabco: establishment of a European works council
The management of the brake system manufacturer Wabco (7.700 employees) - former subsidiary of the American group Standards -signed, on October 1, 2008, an agreement on the establishment of a EWC...
Germany: unions approve the deferment of the privatization of Deutsche Bahn
Referring to the "extreme anxiety" which took over the financial markets, the German Minister of Finance and the railway company Deutsche Bahn announced, on October 9, the postponement of the...
Germany: IG Metall and Dansk Metal organize cross-border placement services for their members
The IG Metall Küste (Küste = sea coast) signed, on October 7, 2008, a cooperation agreement with its Danish counterpart, Dansk Metal. The objective is to place workers - both active and unemployed...
Spain: bank unions criticize the pressure and threats employees are faced with because of the financial crisis
Employees in the banking sector refuse to pick up the pieces of the financial crisis. Discontent is rising and unions are mobilizing. The representatives of the Comfia-CCOO de la Caixa and of...
Germany: metal sector employers propose extending wage negotiations to 2009 on account of the financial crisis
Even before the onslaught of the financial storm, Gesamtmetall, the employers’ federation in the metal sector, was already shocked by the level of IG Metall wage claims. “They are out of their...
Argentina: the pay gap between employees and executives is reducing
The maximum pay difference between employees at the bottom of the scale and the senior executive of the same company was almost divided by half since the 1990s. In some businesses, this reduction...
Netherlands: employees’ contribution to unemployment insurance removed
A social agreement, presented as "unique"; was signed on October 7, 2008 during the traditional fall negotiations between the social partners and the government. The Federation of Dutch trade...
Germany: the record increase of sickness insurance raises controversy
During a new summit meeting after several months of break, the parties of the Grand Coalition agreed, on October 5, 2008, on a major increase of sickness insurance which will amount, from January...
Italy: the Democratic Party trying to reunite unions after the break on the reform of the conventional system
Walter Veltroni, leader of the democratic party, met, last night, with the three trade unions, CGIL, Cisl and Uil, after meeting with the employers' association Confindustria on October 2. The...
Spain: renewal of the collective agreement of the insurance sector
Employers and trade unions in the mutual and insurance sector signed, on October 1, a new collective agreement which will be in force until 2011. Signed by the Unespa, the Amat and the Asecore for...
Belgium: Belgian employers say the right to strike is not an absolute right
During the national day of action launched by the three Belgian trade union confederations CSC, FGTB and CGSLB, employers deplored this initiative which paralyzes public transportation and...
Portugal : the new labor code will be approved at the latest on November 7, 2008
The bill was adopted on its first reading thanks to the vote of the socialist MPs in majority. The two right-wing parties abstained, while the communists and the far left voted against. Two steps...
Italy : union representation and work at the center of the UIL 7th conference
Created in 1950, the UIL is the third Italian union organization with over two million members and two levels of representation: 1° horizontally through its regional unions, 107 provincial...
Valeo: the EWC organized transnational collective action
The European works council of the French motor vehicle equipment manufacturer Valeo (almost 70.000 employees in Europe) decided, during a bureau meeting on September 11, to call all the European...
Great Britain: minimum wage increase on October 1
Hourly minimum wage for workers over 22 increased of 3.8% on October 1, 2008. It went from £5.52 (around €7) to £5.73 (around €7.30). Workers aged 18-21 will receive £4.77 (€6) instead of £4.60...
Netherlands: a bill to make companies responsible of the first six months of unemployment
The center-left governmental coalition wants to give companies the possibility to be responsible for the maintained payment of their dismissed employees for the first six months of unemployment...
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...