National industrial relations
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Germany: unprecedented agreement on occupational health management reached by Primark and Verdi
The services industry trade union Verdi and the Irish clothing retailer Primark have reached an agreement to provide training for management staff on workplace health. The agreement, which is one...
30 March 2018
United Kingdom: government unveils £12 million fund to boost adult skills
The UK’s skills minister Anne Milton announced on 29 March that some 11.7 million pounds (13.3 million euros) would be freed up to fund 32 new projects in the country, to help adults learn new...
30 March 2018
Finland: last minute agreement for the banking sector
Following five months of negotiations, and sector-wide strike action set for the start of April (c.f. article No. 10611), employers and unions have finally accepted conciliator Minna Helle’s...
26 March 2018
Solvay: signing of a charter on the recognition of employee representative skills
On 28 February, Solvay CEO, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu and EWC coordinator Albert Kruft together signed the first European text that recognizes skills acquired by those undertaking employee...
26 March 2018
Great Britain: a return to higher real salaries?
On 21 March 2018, the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported that salaries in the country rose an annual 2.6% in the quarter between November 2017 and January 2018. Against this...
22 March 2018
Japan: banks may launch their own recruitment service
In light of regulatory reforms within the banking sector as announced by the Financial Services Agency, the FSA, Japan’s banks will be able to provide their customers with recruitment support...
22 March 2018
Hungary: new worker profiles entering the manufacturing sector
Hungary’s manufacturing companies are currently having to cope with serious manpower management challenges. According to a recent survey, 88% of businesses are struggling to manage a manpower...
22 March 2018
Finland: continued stalemate for negotiations over a new finance sector collective agreement
Although still in process, negotiations for finance sector collective convention have made no serious progress. The sector’s trade unions have announced fresh strike action for the weeks ahead.
20 March 2018
Germany: metal sector social partners adapting professions and work-linked training to fit the digital age
With Industry 4.0 in full swing across Germany, on 15 March the country’s employers’ federation Gesamtmetall, the machine-tool federation VDMA, the central electrical-electronic union ZVEI, and...
20 March 2018
Estonia: historic agreement on collective agreements extension
Are Estonia’s industrial relations coming to maturity? Trade unions have traditionally been viewed as extensions of the country’s communist era and as such have struggled to secure legitimacy...
20 March 2018
Latest Brexit update: transitional period to last 21 months
After weeks of intense negotiations, Europe and the United Kingdom announced on Monday that they had reached an agreement over the post-Brexit transitional period. The period will begin on 29...
19 March 2018
United Kingdom: large gender pay gaps revealed in banking sector
Under new legislation, companies in the UK with 250 employees or more will have to publish their gender pay gap by 4 April, or run the risk of a penalty (see articles n°9966 and n°9502). The...
19 March 2018
Germany: Deutsche Post unions fear creating a single distribution subsidiary will result in downgrading working conditions for postal delivery workers
An article in the daily publication Die Welt from 12 March reports that Deutsche Post (DP) was preparing a significant restructuring. The article indicated the German postal giant was in the...
13 March 2018
Germany: the extreme-right makes advances during Daimler’s WC elections
Eagerly awaited, the results from WC membership elections in Daimler’s facilities are now available and unambiguous with an overwhelming win for the IG Metall union. At Daimler’s Untertükheum...
9 March 2018
Spain: women to down tools on 08 March
On March 8 the women of Spain will take part in the first national strike to combat wage inequality and gender violence. In 2017 feminist associations called for a symbolic 30 minute work...
7 March 2018
Brazil: IT sector trade unions facing challenges in attracting younger members
Over recent years Brazil’s information and technology sectors have grown rapidly and are now number 7 in the world. Brazil’s population is ‘internet connected’ and attracted to good pay and growth...
7 March 2018
Our mind news
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
Candice Guillot, group director of employee experience and HR performance at Talan (7,000 employees), outlines for mind RH her vision and strategy for introducing artificial intelligence at the...
20 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
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...
21 January 2026
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...
15 January 2026
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...
16 January 2026