Labour relations

On May 19 and after four tense weeks, the annual negotiations in the four key sectors held by the Economics Ministry finally concluded in agreement. Pay rises for workers in the metals, retail...

21 May 2015

Great Britain: the Scottish Government announces two industrial relations measures

The Scottish Government has taken two steps which begin to open up a divergent path from that of how industrial relations are conducted elsewhere in Britain (especially in England). The first...

21 May 2015

Germany: indefinite strike in the rail sector sparks debate on the need to reform the right to strike

Up until the last minute, customers of the German rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) had hoped that the new strike by train drivers, announced on 18 May by the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL)...

20 May 2015

Spain: Unions and employers ratify a pre-framework agreement on employment and collective bargaining that prioritizes quality work and strengthens collective bargaining

The agreement in principle on salary rises concluded on May 11 between representatives of both the unions and employers bodies has now freed the way for discussion on other topics in the...

19 May 2015

Dassault Systèmes: interview with Catherine Guillot, EMEA Senior Labor & Industrial Relations Specialist on an agreement over worker involvement in the future Societas Europaea (SE)

On April 10 the French 3D design software specialist signed an agreement over worker involvement in the future SE (c.f. article No. 9016). Catherine Guillot, EMEA industrial relations legal...

19 May 2015

Slovenia: Social Agreement 2015-2016

The social partners reached consensus on the content of the Social Agreement 2015-2016 that was recently published in the Official Gazette of the RS. The Social Agreement contains various goals...

19 May 2015

Japan: “the principle of lifetime employment is extremely difficult to attack, even for businesses in financial difficulties”

Company restructuring choices tend towards lower wages and ‘voluntary departures” for those close to retirement rather than by redundancy procedures. “Such lack of flexibility in human resource...

18 May 2015

United States: UAW unveils future plans for a works council at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga

The Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the only one outside of China which is not represented at the automobile company’s global works council. The United Auto Workers have thus...

13 May 2015

Spain: unions and employers announce an agreement in principle on the pact that regulates collective bargaining and wage trends

The agreement marks an official end to the wage freeze that hit the sector at the start of the economic crisis. In it has been penned an overall rise in wages of 1% for 2015 and 1.5% for 2016 as...

12 May 2015

Austria: both the chemicals and hotel & catering sectors conclude unusual collective agreements

Two of Austria’s key economic sectors have just renewed their respective sector’s collective agreements. The Chemicals sector (45,000 workers) signed theirs on April 24 and the Hotel &...

12 May 2015

Italy: call centers in an unprecedented crisis situation

Not a week goes by in Italy without call center workers going out on strike or using other shock means to draw attention to and denounce a situation where thousands of redundancies are hitting...

12 May 2015

Sweden: agreement in the temporary work sector strengthens the Swedish model

On April 29 an agreement was signed between the LO confederation and the employers’ body Almega Bemmanningsföretagen (staffing agency employers federation). The one-year agreement covering some...

12 May 2015

Portugal: retail sector negotiating a new collective agreement

The country’s retail sector is renegotiating its collective agreement. The current agreement was negotiated in 2009 and implemented a year later and nothing has been changed since. The country’s...

11 May 2015

Germany: IG Metall union launches an internet platform aimed at improving working conditions for ‘crowdworkers’

The traditional union May day demonstrations, this year held under the banner “we are building tomorrow’s work today”, was the venue the German metals union IG Metall chose to launch the first of...

11 May 2015

Election results for Great Britain: a mixed bag for business and a downright disaster for unions

Tighter strike laws, a referendum on a possible Brexit, attendant halting of Europe Social Directive projects (EWC information & consultation), Tom HAYES, Executive Director of BEERG (the...

11 May 2015

Germany: talks well advanced between IG Metall and BMW over an agreement to include better working conditions in subcontractor services employment contracts

The Bavarian Federation of IG Metall has just signed a collective agreement with BLG (one of carmaker BMW’s major logistics subcontractors) over better pay and hours. It is the latest result of a...

8 May 2015

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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

mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators

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 (Talan): “Our recruiters save just over 80 hours per year on administrative tasks thanks to AI”

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20 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

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Pascale Rauline (Axa EWC): “European charter formalises ongoing and accelerated social dialogue on AI”

On 27 November, Axa and its European works council (EWC) signed a charter setting out principles governing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteeing social dialogue on the...

3 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

EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI

On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...

18 December 2025

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

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