Total: first European seminar on industrial security
The French oil group Total organized, on October 10 and 11, 2006, a European seminar on the theme of industrial security within the group, to which about twenty members of the EWC from eight...
Italy: negotiations on the renewal of metalworkers’ collective agreement in a deadlock
Disagreements between the negotiators of the new collective agreement for metalworkers are increasing: they mainly concern wages and working time. Judging that the state of negotiations with the...
Alcan: between disappointment and revolt, the EWC is getting ready for Rio Tinto’s takeover
It is with much disappointment that Alcan's European staff representation welcomed the European Commission's decision, rendered on October 2, which authorizes Rio Tinto's takeover of the Franco...
Germany: Frank Bsirske is elected president of the services union Ver.di again
Six years after the services union Ver.di was born, from the merger of five different unions, its president, Frank Bsirske, was reelected to his post on October 2, by the approximately 1.000...
EVN: the Austrian group set up a EWC
The management of EVN, an Austrian company in the energy and water supply sector, set up a European works council on September 12, 2007. The company accounts for about 10.000 employees working...
Umicore: an international framework agreement on sustainable development signed
The Belgian steel and chemistry group Umicore signed an international framework agreement on September 28, 2007, with the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) and the International...
Great Britain: postmen are sticking to their claims and announced a new strike
The conflict between Royal Mail and the sector's union CWU which burst last June, worsened last week with the announcement of a strike in October. They denounced wage increases which are too low...
Germany: the locomotive drivers’ union (GDL) will launch a national strike
After one week of "missed" appointments between the management and the Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the GDL, and whereas the official "social truce" ended Sunday night, the drivers' unions decided to...
AXA: European funds for training of the EWC’s members
The European Works Council of the French insurance group AXA will organize a training session, in May 2008 in Warsaw, to ease the integration of the council's new members, following AXA's...
Germany: the federal labour court confirmed that all employees are equal before the Christmas bonus
In a ruling rendered on September 26, 2007, the federal labour court gave satisfaction to 50 employees to whom the employer had refused to pay the Christmas bonus, pretending that they had not –...
Belgium: social partners agreed on a profit-sharing system
Belgian social partners signed, on September 27, 2007, a joint declaration which sets the principles for a new system for employees' financial involvement in the company's results. The system...
Crédit Agricole: negotiation on the establishment of a European works council
With a constantly growing workforce in Europe, the Credit Agricole group launched a negotiation to establish a European works council. After reaching an agreement on the establishment of a special...
Unilever: European trade unions mobilized against the Dutch group’s restructuring
A coordination meeting between the Unilever group's European trade unions took place, on September 25, 2007, in Amsterdam, on the initiative of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and...
Austria: collective bargaining for 180.000 employees in the metal sector started
The first meeting between the sector's social partners will take place on Friday September 28 in Vienna. Even though they have not explicitly given figures, trade unions' claims are pointing...
Denmark : one third of employees not covered by a collective agreement
According to a recent study, in spite of the important level of unionization in Denmark, one employee out of three is not covered by a collective agreement and four employees out of ten do not...
Germany : Metro group created a new company to get away from collective agreements
Whereas warning strikes started in the retailing sector after the ongoing branch collective negotiations failed, Metro, one of the most important retail groups in the world, has just created a new...
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...