Eni: renewal of the global framework agreement signed with IndustriALL Global including a world works council
IndustriALL Global Union and Italian energy giant Eni have renewed their global framework agreement, with improved rights for 33,000 direct employees in 65 countries including a world works...
France: auto company PSA signs a new performance agreement
On Friday 08 July, unions representing 80% of the votes cast during the latest elections signed a new triennial agreement running from 2017-2019. In it PSA commits to hiring 1,000 permanent...
Great Britain: the government focuses on reconverting workers in the crisis stricken oil sector
Faced with mass layoffs in the North Sea oil sector, the British government is trying to encourage workers to seek skilled work in sectors with manpower shortages.
Estonia: employers and unions start to set out lay the groundwork for the annual autumn negotiations
In the run up to the autumn tri-partite negotiations, employers are increasingly finding ways of drawing attention to what may turn out to be the problem that wage increases will pose for...
Spain: Telefónica installation network scrutinised by the Catalonia labour inspectorate
On 30 June Catalonia’s regional government, the Generalitat de Catalunya, presented the results of an open inquiry into Telefónica’s chain of suppliers and subcontractors which offer technical...
Norway: hard-fought deals in the oil sector
Negotiations in the oil sector have been brought to a close with the help of mediation. It is a difficult period for the industry and this can be seen in both the discussions which took place and...
Sweden: a new postal sector agreement focuses on working time
On 29 June an agreement was struck between the employers’ confederation Almega, and the services and communications union Seko (service- och kommunikationsfacket). Decisions over working time are...
United States: Uber has to justify that the compensation it promised is sufficient in exchange for drivers dropping a class action over employment status misclassification
On 30 June the judge in charge of accepting the terms of a settlement agreement that was meant to halt collective action by Uber (online platform based chauffeur service) drivers in California...
Sweden: given the exponential growth in the number of posted workers, unions are finding ways to promote the conclusion of collective agreements
How to temper the effects of the EJC ruling in the Laval case over working conditions for posted employees? The ruling calls the fundamentals of the Swedish model into question and has forced the...
General Electric: the EWC has delivered a detailed negative opinion on the major restructuring plan with social dialogue set to continue at national level
Following the merger on 02 November 2015 between General Electric (GE) and Alstom Power & Grid, on 04 January 2016 GE announced a major European restructuring plan involving around 6,500 job...
Great Britain: Prospect union ready to merge with BECTU
The small media and entertainment union BECTU has the summer to vote for or against a merger with the ever growing Prospect union, which is the trade union for scientists, engineers, and other...
Italy: the new President of Confindustria renews union links in view of upcoming industrial relations negotiations
A positive atmosphere surrounded the first informal meeting held on June 28 between Vincenzo Boccia, leader of the employers’ body Confindusria since March 2016, and the secretaries general of the...
Germany: minimum wage rises for the first time to €8.84 an hour from January 2017
A year and a half after Germany’s landmark introduction on 01 January 2015 of a national minimum wage, the country’s Federal Salaries Commission delivered its first ruling where, as of 01 January...
Czech Republic: secret trade union membership developed to avoid potential employer reprisals
In 2012 the Czech online news site Novinky.cz reported on employees’ voiced concerns over reprisals by their employer Hyundai Motors because they were members of a trade union. The company has...
Great Britain: sets a course to leave the EU
51.9% of the British population voted ‘No’ to Europe during an historic referendum, plunging the United Kingdom and its business community into a sea of uncertainty. Negotiations to exit the EU...
Germany: 5.3% wage rise over 24 months for the chemicals sector
Germany’s 550,000 chemicals employees will receive a 5.3% pay rise paid in two stages comprising first 3% then 2.3%. In exchange for the size of the rise the IG BCE union accepted spreading the...
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...