National industrial relations
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Germany: Erwin Hymer Group’s innovative and award-winning AI agreement
Fed up with negotiating separate agreements for each new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the social partners at Erwin Hymer Group (8,900 employees) have instead secured a broad, overarching...
12 December 2025
Germany: far-right-aligned ‘union’ sets sights on Volkswagen works councils
At next spring’s German works council elections, Zentrum – the 'alternative' union aligned with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party – will seek to strengthen its foothold in major...
9 December 2025
France: Orange submits gender equality agreement – including AI provisions – for union approval
The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...
8 December 2025
Germany: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
Bulgaria: government approves bill to encourage sector-level collective bargaining
On 26 November, the Bulgarian government approved amendments to the labour code designed to reinforce the legal framework for sector-level collective bargaining. The reform aims to stimulate...
2 December 2025
Italy: telecommunications sector introduces new measures to navigate major transformation
The agreement reached between Asstel, the employers’ association for Italy’s telecommunications sector, and the SLC-Cgil, Fistel-Cisl and Uilcom unions centres on strengthening labour relations to...
27 November 2025
Italy: new collective agreement for mechanical engineering and metalworking sectors focuses on defending purchasing power
The deal struck on 22 November between Italy’s social partners in the mechanical engineering and metalworking sector brings an end to a long and contentious bargaining process. The agreement –...
25 November 2025
France: construction sector turns to long-term partial activity scheme
Amid the ongoing economic crisis hitting France’s construction sector, social partners in the public works industry (350,000 employees) signed an agreement at the end of October enabling companies...
21 November 2025
Ireland: 2026-2030 action plan launched to promote collective bargaining
Irish employment minister Peter Burke announced on 5 November the launch of the Action Plan to Promote Collective Bargaining 2026–2030. Developed jointly with the Irish Congress of Trade...
20 November 2025
France: Adecco steps up commitment to temporary workers with disabilities
On 9 September, temporary work agency Adecco France and representative trade unions signed a new open-ended agreement to support the recruitment and retention of temporary workers with...
18 November 2025
France: Decathlon introduces a ‘duty to respect others’ right to disconnect’
A right-to-disconnect agreement was signed in late September for the French arm of the Decathlon sports retail group. It sets out a "duty to respect others’ right to disconnect" and provides...
14 November 2025
Italy: new collective agreement for managers in tertiary sector
On 5 November, the ManagerItalia union and the employers’ association Confcommercio renewed the collective agreement for managers in Italy’s tertiary, distribution and services...
12 November 2025
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
10 November 2025
Carrefour and UNI Global Union renew global agreement on promoting social dialogue and diversity
On 17 October, Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retailers, with nearly 500,000 employees worldwide, and global union federation UNI Global Union renewed their global agreement on...
3 November 2025
Germany: legal battle at Tesla ahead of works council election
The Frankfurt/Oder labour court has postponed a mid-November hearing in the case between the IG Metall union and Michaela Schmitz, employee representative and head of the works council at the...
28 October 2025
France: generative AI and older workers central to BPCE’s skills management strategy
On 17 July 2025, BPCE and its trade unions signed a second agreement on jobs and career management within the banking group. The text places generative artificial intelligence at the core of its...
15 October 2025
Our mind news
France: La Poste to launch negotiations for an AI agreement
Following the lead of firms such as Axa, Syensqo globally, and more recently CDC Habitat, La Poste group management will open negotiations on an AI regulation agreement during the first half of...
5 March 2026
Crédit Agricole is to adopt stricter rules on remote work from mid-March onwards. The rules will be tightened for employees, but the maximum number of days working remotely will remain unchanged.
29 January 2026
The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...
8 December 2025
In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...
31 October 2025
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: 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
5
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
6
UK: duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union postponed to 1 January 2027
The news. On 25 September, the British government published its response to a consultation launched on 23 October on the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. The...
1 October 2026