France: foreign service bonuses can be held for workers from other countries
International companies located in France sometimes provide for specific wage conditions of advantages, such as an expatriation bonus, for employees from the parent company or, in more drastic...
Volkswagen: union representatives want to strengthen international cooperation
This is a first. From April 28 to May 1, almost 120 union representatives from all the sites of the German car manufacturer in the world, are going to take part in an "international union...
Spain: employers accept the minimum wage increase if postponed to 2010
The leader of the employers' confederation CEOE accepted the principle of the gradual increase of the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) promised by José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, but doesn't...
Poland: debate around the reform of the Labor Code
Whereas the government is about to consult the social partners about the reform of the Labor Code (see our article No. 080178), its propositions are confronted to unions' opposition. This...
Italy: the new boss of bosses presents her program
Immediate reform of the conventional system, tax exemption for extra hours and variable premiums, amendment of the Testo Unico (see our article No. 080334), radical changes in industrial relations...
Unicredit : the EWC sets up two commissions on training and equal opportunities
The management of the group and the EWC have set up two joint commissions, one on training, apprenticeship and the development of skills, the other on equality of opportunity and...
Portugal: the procedure for the reform of the Labor code began
Reaction of the social partners. Evidently, the social partners’ reactions have been very diverging, which suggests trouble in reaching a compromise on this reform. Indeed, employers’...
Rhodia: the international framework on CSR renewed
The French chemistry group Rhodia (15.000 employees) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) signed, on march 25, 2008, the renewal of the...
Germany: the Grand Coalition wants to develop employees’ participation in the capital of companies
After about six months of talks, the conservative party (CDU/CSU) and the social-democratic party (SPD) presented, on April 21, 2008, the guidelines of a project to encourage employees to...
Italy: the Cgil’s representativeness questioned
After the results of the last legislative elections, which showed the Cgil's incapacity to bring its members' votes to the Democratic Party, the Confindustria's outgoing chair questioned its...
Italy : the women of the Fiom relaunch the « female issue » in the metal sector
Following the results of the survey  (see article n°080191), which also revealed “a deep-seated discontent” among the female workers in the sector, the 104 participants at this event, aptly named...
Sweden: LO union at loggerheads with the government
The LO union, contrary to its habit of backing the Social Democratic Party, was scarcely heard in the election campaign which brought to power a centre-right coalition in September 2006. The union...
Germany: the specter of an unlimited strike at the Deutsche Post is coming closer
After the "marathon negotiation" on the working conditions of the 130.000 employees and 55.000 civil servants working at the Deutsche Post failed on April 17 and 18, the services' union Ver.di...
Dexia: European agreement on the social consequences of sellings
The management of the Dexia banking group (35.000 employees) and its European works council signed, on December 19, 2007, an additional clause to the group's social management principles, signed...
Germany: “demographic fund” and 4.4% wage increase on 13 months for the 550.000 chemistry employees
The agreement signed on April 15 between the chemistry sector's social partners takes into account inflation and economic growth. It also validates the creation of a "demographic fund" and extends...
Germany: Ver.di wants to improve call center agents’ working conditions
Excessive workload, loud environment, low pay and low union representation : on April 12, Ver.di launched a national campaign to improve the pay and working conditions of call center agents. The...
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...