Germany: judges say the new postal services’ union (GNBZ) is influenced by employers and cannot bargain for collective agreements
The ruling rendered on October 30, 2008 by the Court of Cologne is a turning point in the conflict between Ver.di, the services' union, and its competitor, GNBZ, in the postal services sector...
International: American union busters are spreading to Europe
North-American anti-union cabinet councils, also known as union busters, are increasingly bringing their services to Europe, starting with Great Britain. The weekly journal of the Danish union LO...
Alcatel-Lucent: 17 union organizations ask two former managers to give up their golden parachutes
In a press release published on October 29, 2008, 17 European and American union organizations of the Alcatel-Lucent group condemned the fact that they did not get an answer to the letter they...
Germany: Ver.di union and the city of Berlin sue the Christian trade union federation
Verdi, the services' union, and the city of Berlin pressed charges against the German Christian trade union federation (CGPW) at the Berlin labor court. Via the launching of a "statutory control...
Ukraine: new planned labor code soon on a second reading in Parliament
The Ukrainian Parliament should analyze a project for a new labor code on a second reading by the end of the year 2008. Alexander Poels, Director and lawyer at the Peterka & Partners firm in Kiev...
Poland: two bills for recoding labor law but not on the basis of established law
The Ministry for Labor and Social Policy presented, on October 22, 2008, two bills for the labor code (individual law and collective law). The result of four years of work at the recoding...
Arcelor-Mittal: Joint Global Health and Safety Committee meets in Kazakhstan
The Joint Global Health and Safety Committee of the Arcelor-Mittal group, established by the global agreement signed on June 3 (see our dispatch No. 080429), met in Kazakhstan during the first...
Italy: mining social partners renewed their national collective agreement
On September 29, 2008, Assomineraria-Confindustria for employers and Filcem-Cgil, Femca-Cisl, Uilcem-Uil for unions signed the agreement for the renewal of the national collective agreement of the...
PPR: two European charters on the employment of disabled people and seniors
The management of the French company specializing in retail shops (Fnac, Redcats, Redoute) and luxury brands (Balenciaga, Gucci, Yves-Saint-Laurent…), PPR (90.000 employees) and its EWC signed, on...
BNP Paribas/Fortis: meeting of the EWCs of the two financial groups
After the French banking group BNP Paribas announced the takeover of the Fortis bank, the EWCs of the two groups sent a delegation in Paris, on October 20, for a first contact and to ask the...
Netherlands: moralization of business in the context of the crisis
Low-profile bonuses awarded at Fortis after the nationalization of the bank on October 4, is causing a scandal in the Netherlands. The existence of these bonuses was revealed on October 21 by the...
23 October 2008
Germany: Ver.di union smoothes its stance in the wage conflict in the banking sector
Because of the financial crisis, the services' union Ver.di said, on October 17, 2008, that it was ready to lower its 8% wage claim in the banking sector. The union also announced it would...
Germany: new controversy on managers’ earnings after the financial crisis
Since Josef Ackermann, chairman of the Deutsche Bank's board, announced, on October 16, 2008, that he agreed to give up his bonus this year - a few million Euro - because of the financial crisis...
SKF: SKF world union committee concentrates on precarious labor and evaluates its development
Created in 1995, the world committee of the Swedish firm, world leader in mechanical bearings, met in early September on SKF's Austrian site in Steyr. Questioned by Planet Labor, Josef...
HP-EDS: the trade union coordination calls for a European Action Day
The union representatives of the two groups HP and EDS as well as the members of the EWCs of the two firms met again in Brussels, on October 15, to discuss the 9,330 lay offs announced in the wake...
Italy: major participation in the general strike organized by basic unions
500.000 participants in the national demonstration in Rome and over 2 million strikers throughout Italy. This is the outcome of the first unitary strike, organized on October 17, 2008 by the three...
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
France: Bayer puts female health and inclusive parenthood at the centre of its equality policy
In a new agreement on gender equality highlighted by mind RH, Bayer commits to strengthening its parenthood policy. Furthermore, the company is anticipating pay transparency and introducing...
25 September 2026
2
Germany: Volkswagen cancels almost all collective bargaining agreements signed with IG Metall
The Volkswagen brand announced on 30 September that it is terminating 10 of its 13 internal collective bargaining agreements, effective 31 December 2026. The announcement, which the carmaker...
1 October 2026
3
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
4
Germany: Employers’ representatives seek to limit the rights of works councils
The Employers' Federation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände - BDA) published a report at the end of September in which it proposes a...
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026