Romania: Jucu comes back to life after Nokia left
DeLonghi and Bosch to forget Nokia.  2012 couldn’t have gotten a better start in Jucu (central Romania).  Indeed, since the beginning of the year, two large multinationals have decided to come to...
23 February 2012
Italy: employees at Sisme, the manufacturer of motors for household appliances, commit to co-finance the investment to revive the Italian establishment
“Workers bring ideas and part of the resources” said Alberto Zappa, secretary of the Fim-Cisl in Como, when announcing the signature of the unitary agreement of February 16 by the Fim-Cisl...
Germany: are corporate unions threatening social peace?
Calling on the government.  In two inflammatory press releases, Dieter Hundt, head of the German employers’ association (BDA), said that the strikes organized since February 16 by 200 air traffic...
Denmark: young people take more sick leaves than seniors
In the private and public sectors, 20-30 year-olds take the most sick leaves.  The record is for communal employees, where 25-29 year-olds took 14.4 sick days in 2010 as opposed to 10.7 for...
22 February 2012
Nordic countries: unions and governments are thinking about the Nordic social system of the future
Stakes for the Nordic system.  Nordic system means Welfare State with a global social security system, high taxes and strong unions.  Some also add gender equality and ambitious environmental...
22 February 2012
Great Britain: recent statistics on strikes show considerable increase
Overall strike activity has sunk to an all time low of just 92 strikes in 2010 with a mere 132,000 workers involved and 365,000 days not worked. In 2009, there were 98 strikes involving 209,000...
Romania: end of the Electrolux strike
Back to work.  This morning, after 20 days of strike, Electrolux’s Satu Mare plant reopened its doors and normal activity resumed (see our dispatch No.  120099).  For 20 days, production had been...
Germany: IG-Metall accuses BMW of excessively using temporary work
77,000 employees, 11,000 agency workers.  Since January 1, 2012, temporary employees receive sectoral minimum wage (see our dispatch No.  110795).  However, for the IG-Metall, this precarious form...
20 February 2012
EU: UNI Europa and Postal Euromed sign a cooperation agreement
Revolutions.  Created in 2007, Postal Euromed, which gathers operators from 14 Mediterranean countries, is in line with the EU’s Barcelona process, notably aiming to improve economic cooperation...
20 February 2012
Great Britain: the conflict with the seven subcontracting construction firms who left the joint industry board is fading down
The conflict is the result of the attempt by a group of seven large electrical contracting employers to simultaneously cut wage rates by up to 30% and establish a new bargaining forum. The attempt...
Henkel: the German group banks on a work culture focused on performance, not the time spent in the office
An old tradition.  The group, which employs nearly 48,000 people in 125 countries, has been committed to families since… 1940! In the middle of the war, the company created its first corporate...
17 February 2012
Italy: intensifying movement against the new national banking collective agreement
Dissent over the agreement renewing the banking collective agreement signed on January 19 (see our dispatch No.  120046) is reaching “unprecedented levels” among signing unions and non-union...
Italy: Confindustria employers’ organization kicks off the procedure for the election of its future President
On Monday, February 13, the Committee of the “Three Wise Men” (Luigi Attanasio, Antonio Bulgheroni and Catervo Cangiotti) officially launched the procedure for the succession of Emma Marcegaglia...
Germany: 2.7 percent wage increase for Vattenfall’s 15,000 employees
Initially, the wage committee of the three unions (IG BCE, IG-Metall and Verdi) was asking for a 6 percent wage increase, the extension of the job security agreement until 2018, and a new...
Denmark: agreement renewing the banking collective agreement
“These discussions were unusually long and complicated (…).  The economic situation in the sector and in society brought up pressure like I’ve never seen in all my years of conventional...
Spain: reactions to the decree-law reforming the labor market
Growing union mobilization.  Unions immediately openly rejected the labor reform the government adopted on February 10 (see our dispatch No.  120100) and called for protest demonstrations across...
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...