SAS: the airline signed an agreement with unions to reduce costs
On January 11, 2009, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which has two head offices, one in Sweden and one in Denmark, signed an agreement with its unions on a new collective agreement to help the...
Spain: Competitiveness Plan to help auto businesses face downturn
Planet Labor, January 23, 2009, No. 090075 – www.planetlabor.com
Brazil: one in three businesses prepares layoffs for the beginning of the year
Cutting short rumors and assessments from independent sources, the Brazilian Ministry of Labor finally recognized that a record in terms of job cuts was reached at the end of 2008. According to...
Germany: Lufthansa prepares for warning strikes
After breaking off, on January 16, 2009, the 3rd negotiation round with Lufthansa, the independent flight attendants' union, Ufo (Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation e. V.), warned that it was...
Portugal: unions hit by the crisis too
Portuguese unions are directly hit by the crisis because of its impact on employees' contributions. The CGTP (General Confederation of Workers, the largest union in Portugal) is expecting a 1.9%...
Netherlands: banks are reviewing their wage policy
The financial and economic crisis which led the State to step in to support the sector has consequences on wage policy, particularly managers' pay. Banks keep announcing reduced remuneration or...
Rio Tinto-Alcan: EWC informed of 2.000 job cuts in Europe
This meeting of the EWC follows the announcement of the restructuring plan announced on December 10, 2008. Concerning employment, it provides for 14.000 job cuts worldwide, including 5.500...
Thales: transnational bargaining on professional development
After Areva and Schneider Electric, the French group Thales (68.000 employees), world leader in mission-critical information systems for the Aerospace, Defense and Security markets, is opening...
ArcelorMittal: the EWC monitors local bargaining for voluntary leaves
On December 15, Arcelor's management and the secretariat of the EWC stated, in a joint declaration, that they wanted "to strengthen the social dialogue national and local level in relation to...
Italy: the Fiom’s central council confirms the general strike in the metallurgy sector on February 13
Gathered in Rome on January 13, the central council of the Fiom, the largest metalworkers’ union in Italy, approved four resolutions, including opposition to the government’s proposition to...
Germany: statutory minimum wage for six new sectors
Outside talks at the summit between Angela Merkel and her democrat social partners, bargaining for the details of a historical revival program (see our dispatch No. 090037), the parties of the...
Germany: railroaders and public employees open collective bargaining for 2009
The first collective negotiations for 2009 started with wage claims up to 8% for railroaders and employees from local public administrations. In spite of the downturn and the disastrous economic...
General Motors Europe: agreement with the EWC to reduce working time and avoid collective redundancies
While the German auto sector has been multiplying appeal to partial unemployment, the Opel car manufacturer, German subsidiary of general motors Europe, is in turn about to reduce working time. GM...
Italy: in Milan, unions and local authorities create a fund to help workers in danger of social exclusion
The Milan city hall and the CGIL, Cisl and Uil unions presented to the press, on January 12, 2009, the Fondazione per il Welfare Ambrosiano. The creation of this foundation was proposed by...
Poland: creation of a Confederation of Metalworkers’ Unions
On January 7, 2009, the representatives of three metalworkers' unions (the Federation of foundry unions, the union of electro mechanic industry, the Federation of "Metalworkers'" unions) approved...
Germany: Gesamtmetall wants the government to give more support to “employment pacts” signed in businesses
The tariff agreement on job security (Tarifvertrag Beschäftigungssicherung) in force in the metallurgy and electronics sector, enabling companies facing a dropping demand to reduce working time...
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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
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...
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
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...
6
France: generative AI and older workers central to BPCE’s skills management strategy
On 17 July 2025, BPCE and its trade unions signed a second agreement on jobs and career management within the banking group. The text places generative artificial intelligence at the core of its...