National industrial relations
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Sweden: a united union front reflecting lessons learnt during the 2016 negotiations
2017 will be a busy year with some 500 collective agreements open for negotiation. This time round however the 2016 dispersed individual approach will be shunned by the LO union confederation...
25 October 2016
Great Britain: companies to be ‘ranked’ according to a social mobility index
From 2017, the UK government will publish an index ranking companies in terms of their ability to employ talent from all backgrounds. Inclusion in this landmark index system will be entirely...
25 October 2016
Italy: collective negotiations deadlocked in several key sectors of Italian industry
In a number of sectors – clothing, leather and shoes, ceramics, energy and oil, insurance – employer groups and trade unions in Italy find themselves deadlocked in their attempts to reach national...
24 October 2016
HP: the US company is transferring its European representation management from the UK to Ireland as a means of avoiding any legal uncertainties over the legislation applying to its EWC
Planet Labor understands HP has informed the SNB, which is negotiating the agreement implementing the EWC (following the members' own denunciation of the previous agreement), of the transfer of...
20 October 2016
Australia: after a union report highlights low pay levels, the Airtasker outsourcing platform recommends pay rates in excess of the minimum wage
This popular web-based community marketplace for people and businesses to outsource tasks was singled out in a report by Unions NSW, which indicates that workers are receiving pay below the legal...
20 October 2016
Japan: in a bid to rebuild its image pub chain Watami allows a trade union to be set up
Watami, Japan’s major restaurant and pub chain is looking to rebuild its image damaged by cases of poor working conditions as well as several of work related deaths (karoshi). Going forward, the...
19 October 2016
Germany: rail union EVG wants to negotiate a collective agreement giving employees the freedom to choose between pay and additional time off
In Frankfurt on 17 October, a week after the GDL train drivers’ union started their negotiations with Germany’s rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) to renew their collective agreement, it was the turn...
18 October 2016
Spain: unions gain ground in the courts over their battle against multiservice companies
The Social Chamber of Spain’s National Court annulled 43 agreements that had been signed by multiservice companies on the grounds that they had not be properly negotiated with an appropriate...
17 October 2016
Norway: oil sector agreement unable to assuage rivalry between unions
Following three weeks of strikes, an agreement has been reached in the oil services industry. The parties to the deal are Industri Energi, the Norwegian union for employees in the energy sector...
17 October 2016
United States: Teamsters accept 25% salary cut for new Sikorsky recruits in order to keep the helicopter manufacturer in Connecticut
Members of the Teamsters union have just accepted a new salary agreement with the helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky. The deal, approved with a majority of 2104 in favour and 140 against, will be...
17 October 2016
Germany: 2016 working time report published
Germany’s federal agency, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has published its ‘2016 report on working time’, which studied working time across the country including flexible...
11 October 2016
Germany: new trends occurring in German company agreements
The union foundation holds the largest company agreements archives. Its WSI policy research institute carries out an annual study of German works councils (> 4,500 WCs are questioned). Using...
10 October 2016
Italy: the welfare enterprise is gaining ground
Company collective agreements are increasingly including measures that cater for employees' welfare, in large part thanks to tax breaks put in place in 2016.
10 October 2016
IndustriALL Global Union 2nd Congress: the international industry union federation looks to act as a counterweight to global capitalism
Fighting Forward – A Luta Continua! During their addresses, delegates from the young international industry union federation’s second congress held in Rio de Janeiro (04 – 07 October)...
10 October 2016
Spain: unions are calling for a share of economic growth in the form of a 4% wage rise for 2017
Employers’ bodies and trade unions are preparing for the forthcoming rounds of negotiations that will determine the wage rise recommendations to be used during the 2017 sector and company...
7 October 2016
News update as of October 6, 2016
On the menu: a new leadership team for IndustriALL Global Union, Italy’s metals sector now in line to renew its national collective agreement, in France the draft law on multinational companies’...
5 October 2016
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