PPR: group takes European commitment on the quality of life at work and the prevention of work-related stress
Philippe Decressac, HR senior vice-president of the group, “is happy with this endorsement” and pointed out that “more than psycho-social risks, the point was the quality of life at work and the...
United States: Human Rights Watch bashes European firms’ anti-union behavior in the US
Most corporations Human Rights Watch is pointing the finger at have endorsed the industrial relations guidelines of the OECD.  They endorse the core labor standards of the ILO and the United...
3 September 2010
Italy: Confindustria and Federmeccanica are willing to amend the metal CCN so Fiat will remain in the employers’ organization
Suspense in the Italian industry before Federmeccanica’s management meets on September 7th and announces what the metal employers’ organization chose to keep Fiat from leaving and allow for the...
United States: American unions gather to prepare the November elections
A new partnership.  For the AFL CIO and SEIU, these political actions aren’t new.  The two organizations have the support of the Center for Responsive Politics, specialized in lobbying, and the...
Austria: unions demand drastic overtime limit
Talks on flexible working time and the management of overtime in Austria have been going on for over a year (see our dispatches No. 091007 and 100291) and have already greatly tainted the social...
Netherlands: still no coalition three months after the general election
Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party (PPV) is now setting the political rules in the Netherlands: it seems impossible to govern without it, because of its election results, but equally hard to govern with...
2 September 2010
International: metal unions seek to improve strategy in Latin America
The meeting held on August 18 and 19 brought together representatives from the ASMIRA and UOM (Argentina), CNTM-FS and CMN-CUT (Brazil), and SITIMM (Mexico).  Manuel Campos, the IG-Metall...
Germany: IG-Metall demands 6% wage increase in the steel industry
Union says it’s a problem of equity.  Oliver Buckhard, leader of the IG-Metall in North-Rhine Westphalia, explained his union’s requirements by reminding that steel employees gave a lot during the...
Germany: the conditions for a sectoral agreement on minimum wage in regional rail transport are taking shape
After the second bargaining round for collective agreements at the Deutsche Bahn and in the rail industry, it is still impossible to say foretell the amount of wage increases for the 165,000...
Great Britain: Vestas and Linamar, two long conflicts, two different outcomes
In mid-July 2009, Vestas announced the closure of its two plants in the Isle of Wight, employing some 600 workers and citing the restrictive nature of planning laws in Britain as having choked off...
Great Britain: unions are choosing candidates for the leadership of the Labour Party
There are currently fifteen unions affiliated to the Labour Party, comprising some 3.5 million members. The unions are the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef)...
Great Britain: unions divided over the opening of talks with the government
The General Council is comprised of around thirty members of the affiliated unions, some of which have seats automatically because of their size (over 200,000 members) and others from the smaller...
Etex: construction material firm signs health and safety on the workplace Charter
Procedures. Present in many European countries, Etex is a Belgian company specialized in construction materials. In June, it adopted a charter to better protect its workers and the environment...
Italy: Fiom-CGIL central committee elects new national secretariat
Gathered in Rome on July 19-20, the central committee of the Fiom elected its new national secretariat. The latter is composed of Maurizio Landini – general secretary and signatory of the document...
Finland: unions and employers relatively happy with collective negotiations, in spite of the recession due to the financial crisis and many conflicts
Unions are satisfied. The SAK union confederation considered that, in spite of particularly complicated economic conditions, the outcome is quite positive. In the fall 2009, collectively-agreed...
Spain: unions object to the decree-law amending savings banks
Candido Mendez, UGT general  secretary, and Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, his counterpart at CCOO, rejected what they call the “penetration of banking services” into savings banks, in a process which...
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: Bayer puts female health and inclusive parenthood at the centre of its equality policy
In a new agreement on gender equality highlighted by mind RH, Bayer commits to strengthening its parenthood policy. Furthermore, the company is anticipating pay transparency and introducing...
25 September 2026
2
Germany: Volkswagen cancels almost all collective bargaining agreements signed with IG Metall
The Volkswagen brand announced on 30 September that it is terminating 10 of its 13 internal collective bargaining agreements, effective 31 December 2026. The announcement, which the carmaker...
1 October 2026
3
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
4
Germany: Employers’ representatives seek to limit the rights of works councils
The Employers' Federation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände - BDA) published a report at the end of September in which it proposes a...
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026