United States: National Labor Relations Board under heavy Republican fire
Undo what the NLRB has done.  Anticipating its coming paralysis (see our dispatch No.  110509), the NLRB has been multiplying strong actions and rulings facilitation unionization.  But this was...
Italy: towards the application of the “Pomigliano model” in all Fiat undertakings in Italy
Uil, Fim, Uilm and Fismic unions on October 25th, Fiat confirmed its programs for its Italian undertakings and got unions’ consent for the negotiation of a single collective agreement for...
Italy: the city of Milan and unions sign an agreement on continuous dialogue
After the center-left won the municipal election last may, the Italian economic capital is launching a new season of union relations, with the watchwords “Dialogue, involvement, sharing.”  Mayor...
Italy: CGIL youth kick off the new campaign “Rights and no words”
The tone was set by a flash mob in downtown Rome on the morning of October 24th, where young activists dressed as cooks got a pan out and gave passers-by notes on which were sentences summarizing...
Great Britain: employers launch protocol removing disabled candidates’ recruitment barriers
Adjust recruitment.  The EFD is an association of employers who work on facilitating recruitment and businesses with people with a disability.  On October 20th, affiliated employers met and...
26 October 2011
Italy: Fiom-CGIL metalworkers’ federation gives positive report of the national Fiat/Fincantieri strike
With the motto “Democracy, contract, labor,” the Fiom organized the first national demonstration of Fiat’s workers on the Piazza del Popolo also involving the workers of Fiat and Fincantieri’s...
ThyssenKrupp: IG-Metall union wants to help the American USW union settle in the German steel plant in Alabama
Bullying measures.  This conflict isn’t new.  For several years now, the IG-Metall has been blaming the German steel giant (180,000 employees, €42 billion in sales in 2009/2010) of “riding...
International: creation of a trade union federation dedicated to telecom and information technology
On October 20th, in Mexico, about 170 representatives in the sector validate the merger between UNI Telecom and UNI IBITS, the two branches of the international service union, UNI Global. The new...
Great Britain: unions diversify strike tactics
In mid-October, Unison members at Barnet council in London held a second one-day strike against the proposed contracting out of services and job cuts. In order to get their message across to the...
Italy: Lombardy strikes deal with major universities to promote high training apprenticeship
Roberto Formigoni, President of Lombardy, signed, on October 18th, with the headmasters of the ten biggest universities in the region (Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano Bicocca, Università...
21 October 2011
Germany: anticipating coming difficulties, the social partners and the Democratic Party are asking for the extension of short-time working measures
Quick appeal to short-time working.  In two different declarations, the heads of German employers and trade unions asked that the Merkel administration extended the period during which businesses...
21 October 2011
Spain: union and employers’ organizations strike deal to unfreeze sectoral collective bargaining
tive agreements have been frozen for several years. Therefore, the UGT and Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) unions and the CEOE and Ceypme employers’ organizations signed an agreement to...
Germany: Airbus signs “Agreement for the Future” with job security until 2020
the Airbus social partners in Germany announced that they finally stroke a “complementary” collective agreement on working conditions and the organization of labor. After months of...
Germany: the crisis of bonuses Opel gave its works council revives the debate on the remuneration of employee representatives
Infringement to the WC Act.  It all started with an article published on October 15th in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily (FAZ) headlined: “Opel bribes employee representatives.”  The...
20 October 2011
Portugal: unions call for a general strike on November 24th against 2012 austerity measures
d to join forces against austerity and are calling for a general strike on November 24th. This date overlaps with the last reading of the tentative 2012 budget before the final vote on November...
GDF Suez: EWC renders negative opinion on the partnership with the CIC Chinese Sovereign wealth fund because of doubts on the CSR compatibility of the fund’s investments
stments a subject for EWCs? In any case, the EWC of GDF Suez rendered, on October 13th, a negative opinion on the plan to open the capital of its Gas exploration business (“Exploration et...
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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...