Italy:Uilm held first “cross-territory” national assembly
With the slogan, “What have we done and what remains to be done?”, the Uilm gathered, on February 14-15 in Rome, nearly 200 local union leaders from all Italian provinces as well as the...
Austria: great internal retraining program in Austrian railway is having a hard time taking off
Trim administration and organize transfers.  The issue of personnel costs, i.e. 43% of total exploitation costs, is one of the ÖBB’s numerous problems and forces the public company, every year, to...
16 February 2011
Belgium: mediation on 2011-2012 cross-industry agreement failed
Employers’ support.  Will the Belgian government override the rejection of the FGTB, second largest union in the country?  The day of consultation on Monday, February 14th (see our dispatch No. ...
Germany: one plant at a time, Continental Automotive negotiates “derogatory agreements” way below the sectoral collective agreement
Continental is doing better…  The official communication of Continental Automotive is trying to look on the bright side.  Since the beginning of the year, Continental has been multiplying...
United States: interview of Wilma Liebman, chairman of the National Labor Relations Board
Wilma Liebman. The National Labor Relations Board is a federal government agency created by statute, the National Labor Relations Act, which was first enacted by Congress in 1935. It was amended...
Denmark: flexicurity system weakened by recent reforms
Highly mobile employees, secured income while unemployed and the certainty of finding a new job are the key elements of the Danish flexicurity system, based on a system of regulation of the labor...
15 February 2011
Spain: first election at Seat after controversial competitiveness agreement of 2009 strengthens UGT union
On February 10th, 12,781 employees were called to elect 119 representatives from the five sites of Martorell (Zona Franca) and El Prat (Llobregat), in the outskirts of Barcelona.  UGT is more...
Belgium: mediation on the 2011-2012 cross-industry agreement
Six years ago, when the FGTB rejected the 2005-2006 draft cross-industry agreement, the government enforced it anyway.  This time around, the situation is somewhat different.  First, the socialist...
Italy: gas and water social partners sign unitary agreement for the renewal of the sector’s CCN
After two general sectoral strikes and over 13 months of “exhausting” negotiations, yesterday February 10th, Anfida, Anigas, Assogas, Federestrattiva, Confindustria-Energia, Federutility for...
Italy: independent unions proclaim general strike on March 11th
General strike.  After presenting a positive report of the national strike in local public transport of January 26th and of independent unions’ mobilization against Fiat’s Mirafiori and Pomigliano...
Netherlands: no restructuring for DHL in 2011
The agreement reached on February 9th by the DHL transport and logistics group and the trade unions marks the end of restructurings.  DHL’s 3,000 Dutch employees have job security for one year...
Austria: transferring civil servants from the post and Telekom Austria to the police is harder than expected
The idea launched in September 2009 by the Austrian government was attractive.  Rather than keeping on paying civil servants doing nothing at the post and telecoms, why not transfer them to the...
10 February 2011
Italy: method for mandatory assessment of the risk of work-related stress
The “remedial” decree of 2009 on Testo Unico 81/2008 on health and safety at work (see our dispatch No.  090786) conditioned the enforcement of employers’ mandatory assessment of risks of...
10 February 2011
Germany: GDL train drivers union’s decision to launch strikes as of February 16th revives debate on “tariff unity”
Existential conflict for the GDL.  For the GDL train drivers’ union (34,000 members), which obtained the right to sign a special collective agreement for train drivers after spectacular strikes in...
Spain: employers and unions tackle collective bargaining reform
The representatives of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), UGT and the CEOE employers’ organization set out the dates for the meetings and determined the themes to address: the structure and articulation...
Germany: IG-Metall union calls for 5% wage increase for 130,000 employees in textile and clothing
Employees’ high expectations.  Helga Schwitzer, in charge of collective bargaining within the IG-Metall’s steering committee, justified the wage claim by reminding that employees bore most of the...
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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
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...