Great Britain: British Airways employees vote to back strike action to protest against the management’s retaliation against the strike movement in 2010
The original dispute of 2009 concerned staffing levels and the unilateral imposition of change relating to this. However, those issues have been largely settled, with the new issues emerging of...
29 March 2011
Spain: limiting appeal to temporary work in high voltage electricity
According to CCOO’s manufacturing federation, “it would have been bad both for the interests of maintenance and assembly employees and for the interests of the businesses themselves if risky work...
Italy: executive committee of the Cisl’s metal federation, Fim, defines priorities for 2011
The national executive committee of the Fim-Cisl, gathered in Rome on March 23rd, almost unanimously approved (3 abstentions) its strategy for the coming months, asking its secretariat to draw up...
Netherlands: the fate of precarious workers at the center of ongoing negotiations for collective agreements
“Permanent contracts have to remain the rule.”  This is a priority for the FNV, the country’s key union Confederation, and its member federations stick to it: in all the collective agreements...
Great Britain: great turnout for TUC demonstration against government austerity policy
The turnout was considerably higher than the 100,000 the TUC had predicted in the weeks running up to the demonstration. The breadth of those participating was extensive from unions to pensioner...
Germany: Verdi union and Deutsche Telekom agree on increases ranging between 3.15 and 5.15%
The intervention of a mediator, four meetings in three months and several warning strikes were necessary for the social partners to agree on wage increase counting among the highest increases...
Brazil: unions satisfied with the outcome of 2010 collective bargaining
The study published by the interunion department of statistics and socioeconomic studies (DIEESE) analyzes the 700 wage negotiations, including collective agreements negotiated at sectoral level...
Alstom: unions worried about non-compliance with European framework agreement on the anticipation of change
Restructuring.  On March 22nd, the French group Alstom presented a restructuring program for its transport unit, providing for 1,380 job cuts in Germany, Spain and Italy.  “This program is...
Italy: right wing union Confederation, UGL, is celebrating its 60th birthday
“The UGL is moving with devotion and humility through small and large negotiations, never feeling inferior, with a high growth – 14.7% – in 2010.”  It is by pointing to this “extraordinary result...
Portugal: “temporary” agreement between the social partners on the program for the improvement of competitiveness and employment
“Heaven-sent agreement.”  The social partners were quite reluctant to the idea of signing an agreement with a government ‘on death row.’  The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP)...
Belgium: textile social partners negotiate 2011-2012 collective agreements
Margin.  Talks opened on March 14th within equal committee No. 109, which covers the 20,000 people working in clothing.  It gathers sectoral representatives from the key unions in Belgium, CSC...
Denmark: government and opposition agree on 2012-2020 working environment strategy
The agreement on the strategy for the working environment 2020, signed yesterday, march 22nd, between the government, the social-democratic party, the Danish People’s Party and the radical left...
23 March 2011
Sweden: after tough start for the “Brev 2010” cost cutting program, the management of the Swedish Post commits to review work organization
A program hard to implement.  The objective of the “Brev 2010” program is to lower personnel costs in the services of “Posten Meddelande” (message post) via the automation of the sorting system...
22 March 2011
Italy: two key organizations of senior managers join forces
The national federation of managers of manufacturing firms, Federmanager, and the national federation of managers, executives and professionals in trade, transportation, tourism, services and...
Portugal: difficult social dialogue on employment and competitiveness without the CGTP
Difficult social dialogue.  The CGTP left social talks on the program for employment and competitiveness launched by José Socrates’ socialist administration at the beginning of this year.  The...
Brazil: DGB German union confederation to open office in Sao Paulo
The German DGB will open an office in Brazil in partnership with the Central Workers’ Union (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores, CUT) and the Social Observatory Institute (Instituto Observatorio...
21 March 2011
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
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...
4
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...
5
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...
6
Germany: legal battle at Tesla ahead of works council election
The Frankfurt/Oder labour court has postponed a mid-November hearing in the case between the IG Metall union and Michaela Schmitz, employee representative and head of the works council at the...