Poland : trade unions and management question political leaders on the lack of social dialogue
During a common press conference, on October 3rd, employers and trade union representatives asked the political parties' leaders to get more involved in the elaboration of a new social contract...
Belgium : the Confederation of Christian unions wants a European framework for restructuring.
Social Europe at a halt. The CSC, strongly in favour of European construction, refers to a series of “hard blows suffered in recent years” such as the slowdown in European social policy with less...
2 October 2006
Spain: information and consultation soon a “basic” right for all workers
During the Council of ministers of September 29th, the Minister of Employment, Jesus Caldera, introduced to his colleagues a draft bill which will make the right to information and consultation a...
Great Britain: employers ask the government to stop any initiative on labor law
As new social rules were coming into force on October 1st, the main British employers' confederation, CBI, (see our article n°06950), published a report called "Lightening the load: he need for...
Germany: Did BenQ and Siemens knowingly fool their 3000 employees ?
The announcement of the voluntary liquidation of BenQ Mobile Gmbh, the former cell-phone division of Siemens, has triggered off a wave of protests. The firm is closing its doors and laying off...
Spain : building workers in Barcelona on strike to denounce frequent industrial accidents in the sector
Building sites at the airport, high-speed train services, the justice precinct, underground transport, the exhibition centre and the diagonal avenue extension were paralyzed all day.  27 workers...
PSA: Vigo plant management tries to be reassuring
 Employment stability will depend on the site’s results, stated PSA chief executive in Vigo, Javier Riera. The smooth running of the Galician plant, which employs 8500 people, mainly depends today...
Czech Republic : new Labor Code delayed
The new center-right government says several provisions of the Code violate the country's Constitution. The Code - which will probably be amended - should now take effect on January 1st 2008...
Volkswagen : agreement on return to 34-hour week without wage compensation
The average workweek will pass from 28.8 hours to 33 hours in production and to 34 hours in administrative services without wage compensation. If necessary, the workweek may increase further to 1...
Deutsche Bahn: 130,000 workers launch warning strikes for job security
Following the failure of management-union negotiations, Transnet, the main railway workers union, has decided to launch today a first wave of warning strikes, an initiative in accordance with the...
Veolia Environment: first meeting of the European WC
Having set up by an agreement of October, 2005, the European works council of Veolia Environment met for the first time, on September 21st, 2006, to undertake the election of the bureau and...
Germany : trade unions satisfied by temporary assessment of Work’s councils elections
The Confederation of German trade unions (DGB) introduced, on 28 September 2006, a temporary assessment of the electoral results (work's councils) of last spring. Almost 50% of the results are...
PSA: Spanish labour unions incredulous after management announces a revival plan
The staff cuts announced by PSA on September 26th surprised and upset Spanish labour unions UGT and CCOO. (Ref. 06953)
SABMiller Europe: a European work’s council under Hungarian law
SABMiller Europe management and workers' representatives of the special group of negotiation signed, on August 16th, 2006, an agreement on the creation of a European WC governed by Hungarian law...
VWR International: analysis of the agreement on the new European works council
The German company International VWR signed, on June 14th, 2006, an agreement to create a EWC that covers 13 Member States as well as Norway and Switzerland. The EWC will be chaired by management...
Axa : debates over the fate of Winterthur’s European WC
After the acquisition of the Swiss insurer Winterthur by Axa, announced on June 14th of this year, and the real takeover which should take place on January 1st 2007, Axa's management and its...
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
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
3
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
4
Italy: collective agreement for rubber and plastics sector focuses on new skills
A month ahead of schedule, the Federazione Gomma Plastica employers' organisation and the Filctem-Cgil, Femca-Cisl and Uiltec trade unions have renewed the collective agreement for the rubber and...
5 January 2026
5
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...
6
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