Labour relations

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

Bulgaria: Lidl implements a dual professional education program

From September, Lidl Bulgaria will offer places on a dual professional educational program. This is a pilot apprenticeship program for students in the commercial sector and forms part of a wider...

8 May 2015

Spain: CCOO and UGT sign agreement with Telefónica’s installation and maintenance companies, but minority trade unions want to keep fighting

On 5 May, the CCOO (Workers’ Commissions) and UGT (General Union of Workers) announced that they had signed an agreement with the main companies dealing with the installation and maintenance of...

6 May 2015

OHB SE: agreement over worker participation in the newly formed SE online

On March 26, 2015, OHB, the German space technology company converted its legal structure into a Societas Europaea (SE). The change is in response to the growing Europeanization of its activities...

6 May 2015

New Zealand: zero hours contracts scrapped in fast-food industry

McDonald’s, KFC. Burger King… New Zealand’s fast food giants have one by one been scrapping their zero hours employment contracts in response to a campaign by the union Unite. Controversy over...

5 May 2015

Germany: GDL the train drivers’ union has launched the longest strike in rail history in defense of its right to conclude collective agreements for its own members

In the face of widespread annoyance for both passengers and businesses alike the niche corporatist train drivers’ union, GDL, has just launched its 8th strike since the start of its long running...

4 May 2015

Italy: commercial sector unions commit to combatting discrimination against homosexuals at work

In Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige in northern Italy, the commercial sector unions have made an official commitment to combat discrimination against homosexuals at work. Together with an association...

4 May 2015

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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

France: Crédit Agricole to tighten remote work rules

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

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

mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators

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31 October 2025

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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

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

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

Germany: Employers’ representatives seek to limit the rights of works councils

The Employers' Federation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände - BDA) published a report at the end of September in which it proposes a...

8 October 2026

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

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