Germany: eurozone crisis causes Ford to appeal to short-time working
Short-time working for Ford.  The warning signs of another crisis in the automotive industry or simple, passing weakness?  Ford appealing to short-time working shows that Germany too is starting...
26 April 2012
Great Britain: conflict could be avoided thanks to negotiations between Unite and fuel tankers
The parties in the fuel tanker drivers’ dispute have continued to search for an agreement to resolve the dispute, putting off the onset of strike action on three occasions. After the announcement...
Austria: the biggest metal employers’ organization wants to secede for collective negotiations
The biggest sectoral federation wants to negotiate individually.  The fall collective bargaining session in the metal industry wasn’t supposed to start in the spring.  However, it is pretty much...
Germany: Sany, the Chinese group, grants employees at Putzmeister, German manufacturer of concrete pumps, job security until 2020
Concern in Germany.  It was in the media that, at the end of January, Putzmeister staff heard that their company was sold by its founder, Karl Schlecht, to Chinese billionaire Liang Wengen...
Netherlands: impact of the Mark Rutte administration’s fall
From employers’ point of view, the Mark Rutte administration is falling at the worst possible time.  The country is in the middle of recession, with unemployment growing (5.9 percent in March) and...
Germany: unions disagree on employers’ high salaries
Debate over employers’ high salaries.  In 2001, most German multinationals made a lot of profit.  And record profit means record pay.  Let’s give three examples only: Martin Winterkorn, CEO of...
24 April 2012
Italy: new Confindustria leader presents new team and new program
With 102 votes in favor, 21 against and 22 abstentions, Confindustria’s Giunta approved, on April 19, the program and team set up by Giorgio Squinzi, the organization’s new leader (see our...
United States: three American Airlines unions back US Airways’ offer
The lawyers of American Airlines (AMR) have an exclusive right until the end of September to present the Court with their project and try to secure the termination of the current labor contracts. ...
24 April 2012
Greece: employers ask for pay cuts in the negotiations for the trade and hotel sectors
Trade sector.  Employers in trade and small and medium-size businesses asked for pay cuts around 10-11 percent during the first meeting between the representatives of National Confederation of...
Denmark: workers ratify the agreements renewing national collective agreements in the private sector with record abstention rates
‘No’ votes fueled by fear of social dumping.  92 percent of the members of the Blik-og Rørarbejderforbundet construction union voted no, while other construction unions rejected the agreement with...
United States: overtime pay claims are going back up
At the lowest, during the recession, the number of lawsuits filed was up 32 percent versus 2008 in the US, according to USA Today.  The millions of job cuts after the crisis broke out didn’t...
23 April 2012
Spain: unions call for a day of mobilization on April 29 to defend social rights and public services
The government’s projects includes reducing free health care, co-funding of medicine for pensioners who used to be exempt, more students in the classroom and more teaching hours for teachers. 
PSA/GM Alliance: the two carmakers’ union representatives form an ‘Alliance’ to monitor their managements’ Alliance
In the statement released after the meeting, the EMF points out, “thousands of jobs, not only in Europe, but also on the global level, are at stake. It is also clear that the “alliance” will...
Finland: Nokia Siemens unions fight two battles to manage restructurings
In Finland, where NSN employed 7,200 people at the end of 2011, the cuts should affect 700 people in Espoo, 150 in Oulu and 350 in Tempere.  The unions concerned – Metalliliitto, Pro, UIM and TEK...
20 April 2012
Italy: short margin for ‘yes’ vote in the consultation on the agreement renewing the banking collective agreement
Strong ‘no.’  The rejection of the agreement renewing the banking CCN signed in January (see our dispatch No.  120046) started within the left wing of the Fisac-CGIL, led by former leader Domenico...
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
France: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 2025
2
Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
3
France: Decathlon introduces a ‘duty to respect others’ right to disconnect’
A right-to-disconnect agreement was signed in late September for the French arm of the Decathlon sports retail group. It sets out a "duty to respect others’ right to disconnect" and provides...
14 November 2025
4
United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
5
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
6
Italy: new collective agreement for managers in tertiary sector
On 5 November, the ManagerItalia union and the employers’ association Confcommercio renewed the collective agreement for managers in Italy’s tertiary, distribution and services...