France: lasting conflict on special pension schemes
The strike against the reform on special pension schemes has been going on since November 13 among railway workers and in the urban transports around Paris. Union confederations' leaders, on the...
Denmark: social partners’ first reactions to legislative elections
After the early legislative elections of Tuesday November 13, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, leader of the liberal party Venstre and leader of the liberal-conservative coalition which has been governing...
EU: EWC creations and negotiations in the building sector
Whereas two German groups in the building sector signed agreements to create or renew EWCs, the French group Bouygues, also present in this sector launched the negotiation of a new agreement after...
Areva: implementation of the agreement on equal opportunities, interview with Laure Klock
After the European Commission's approval to finance the implementation plan of the agreement on equal opportunities within the group (see our article No. 070947), Laure Klock, in charge of Areva's...
Areva: the European Commission to fund a plan to “implement” the European agreement on equal opportunities
The European Commission accepted to pay for the plan to implement the European agreement on equal opportunities adopted on November 16 (see our article No. 061207). This plan was jointly proposed...
Germany: Franz Müntefering resigned from VP and Employment Secretary positions
Political clap of thunder in Berlin : the social-democrat Franz Müntefering, 67, announced, on November 13, 2007, that he would quit, as early as November, his double position of vice-president of...
Italy: IBM Italia and unions around the negotiations’ table after the virtual strike
Union organisations are satisfied with the results of the virtual strike on Second Life (see our article No. 070805). On November 9, employees ratified the agreement bill concluded on October 26...
Club Méditerranée: EWC wants better information-consultation
In a letter sent to Club Méditerranée's CEO - Henri Giscard d'Estaing - delegates from the group's European works council asked for better information-consultation when "villages" close for...
Italy: Cisl to reform collective bargaining system by strengthening company level
Changing social and union relation system, extending staff representation, redefining union democracy rules but mostly reforming the collective bargaining system by strengthening company agreement...
Italy: successful mobilisation of autonomous unions against Prodi government’s policy
Over two million employees (union source) mobilized for the "general and generalized strike" which took place on November 9. It was organized by autonomous unions against the July 23 protocol (see...
Spain: employers’ organizations opposed to the schedule for the increase of the minimum wage agreed by government and unions
The Labour Department received, on Thursday, November 8, unions' proposition to increase the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) to 81 Euros in 2012. This measure should be forwarded to the...
Austria : 3.1% wage agreement in trade, special agreement for UEFA Euro 2008
Starting on January 1, 2008, the 500.000 employee in Austrian retailing will get a 3.1% wage increase. Social partners also signed a special agreement which enables, among other things, to work on...
Germany: Berlin gets minimum wage
Berlin's Senate amended, on November 6, 2007, its law on public tender offers (Vergabegesetz). From now on, any company wishing to work for the Land will have to guarantee a 7.50 Euros gross...
Belgium: report on the evolution of wage gaps with neighboring countries
The Central Economic Council – an organization where staff and union representatives sit – published a report on the evolution of wage costs, employment and training efforts. This annual report...
Denmark: the union confederation LO’s annual congress elected a new chair to “return to their roots”
LO's 36th congress, which gathered 800 representatives in Copenhagen from October 28 to October 21, marks a "return to the roots" with the election of Harald Børsting, "tradition man", who won by...
Germany: Berthold Huber replaces Jurgen Peters at the head of the metal sector union IG-Metall
As expected, the largest German union, IG Metall, will now be headed by two "reformists” (see our article No. 070720). Berthold Huber, 57, who was until now the union's second-in-command, was...
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...