Germany: Ver.di signs a learning agreement with First Mail, low-cost mail delivery subsidiary of Deutsche Post
From 15 to 1,000 apprentices in three years. “First Mail announcing that it wants to bring the number of apprentices from 15 to 1,000 in a year concerns us” explained Maik Brandenburger, spokesman...
Italy: 24bn euros economic “maneuver” approved by the Council of Ministers and causes protests
“The crisis is forcing all countries to reduce the public debt, so our measures aim to bring the ratio between deficit and GDP from 5% currently down to 2.7% in 2012” declared Silvio Berlusconi...
Corporate practices: ISS’ diversity policy in Denmark
Focused on giving value to diversity among its employees, from women to immigrants, to seniors and disabled people, not to mention training for long-term jobseekers, as well as traumatized...
Great Britain: CWU union threatens BT with a strike because of disagreements on the wage increase
High profit. The staff representatives of the BT telecom firm voted an emergency motion during the annual conference of the CWU. BT’s annual results, published on May 13th, take stock of ₤1bn...
Great Britain: statutory union recognition is about to blow its tenth candle
Despite the arrival of a new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, it seems certain there is no immediate threat to the continued existence of a key plank of the previous Labour government’s...
Italy: key independent unions “connected” within the USB, the Association of Basic Unions
“Unite your struggles.” It is under this slogan that Rete di Base (RdB), Sindacato dei Lavoratori (SdL) and several units of the Confederazione Unitaria di Base (Cub) created the new Association...
Sweden: the Teknikföretagen employers’ organization terminates the collective agreement in the industry, by which it won’t be covered after October 31, 2010
A collective agreement failing its initial mission. This framework collective agreement, also known as “cooperation agreement on the development of the industry and on wages” was signed in March...
International: International Metalworkers’ Federation works on new union strategy
In December 2009, the IMF’s executive committee decided to improve its strategy regarding multinationals. In particular, the federation observed that its union grid was incomplete and said that it...
Germany: German employers choose minimum wage over “Polish plumbers”
Fear of the Polish plumber is back. In addition to the major concerns about the impact of the “Greek crisis” on the Euro, the national economic and employment, the German social partners and...
Netherlands: 1% wage increase for all agency workers
An agreement was reached on May 19th between the ABU, which accounts for 370 members and 60% of the temporary labor market in the Netherlands, the Federation of Christian Unions (CNV...
Netherlands: positive agreement at Sara Lee to sweeten a social plan
A 1% wage increase, a €75 annual bonus, the possibility to take five unpaid days off, a permanent contract after 3 or 6 months of interim “if there are jobs to fulfill….” The agreement in...
Germany: Ver.di launches new offensive to impose “new” minimum pay in the postal sector
Wage dumping. On January 1, 2008, the federal government imposed, in a decree, that all postal business apply minimum wage, ranging between €8 and €9.8 an hour, negotiated between Ver.di and an...
Italy: 7th national congress of the Slai Cobas independent union ends with the conclusion that it is necessary to build a “strong class union”
Analysis of the crisis. According to the union, the right-wing, the opposition and confederal unions follow joint “strategic lines” aiming, in the end, to maintain the current economic and...
France: agreement in metalworking to improve the forecast management of employment and skills in the sector
This agreement is in line with the cross-industry agreement signed in 2008 on that theme. In the preamble, the social partners specify that it doesn’t have to do with the need to reorganize the...
Argentina: metalworkers get a 26.5% wage increase
The collective agreement in the metal sector in Argentina provides for a first 15% wage increase applied retroactively on April 1, 2010, a second 11.5% increase on July 1st and until March 31...
Netherlands: employers accuse unions of giving into “extremism”
The two most powerful unions in the Netherlands, affiliated with the FNV, are worrying employers. The offensive tactic adopted by the FNV and Allies (active in industry) for five years, and by 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
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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
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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...
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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
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...
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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...