Germany: conflict in the metal sector after a wage increase was postponed because of the crisis
r and sales in the automotive industry, the Gesamtmetall, the employers’ organization of the metallurgy sector, announced that the sector’s companies want a major delay of the second...
Germany: rail unions sign the Deutsche Bahn’s new collective agreement
hree rail unions – Transnet, GDBA and GDL – validated, on February 5, the collective agreement negotiated with the Deutsche Bahn’s management on January 30, 2009. It provides...
Switzerland: after voting yes to the free movement of Bulgarian and Romanian workers, unions ask for measures against social dumping
Referendum outcome. Despite predictions of a close finish, the accord extension was approved by just under 60% of voters. In total, the bilateral agreement providing for the free movement of...
Slovakia: the social partners agree to limit wage increases in 2009
he key trade unions have committed to wage demand pragmatism for 2009, in an effort to preserve the Slovak labor market in a country which highly depends upon exports. They committed not to ask...
Great Britain: Total’s employees at the Lindsey refinery go back to work after obtaining 102 positions for local workers
refinery, owned by Total, ended last week. Faced with the wildcat strike of British employees against the employment of Italian and Portuguese workers posted by a subcontractor employed to extend...
Slovenia: employers and union organizations criticize the lack of social dialogue
or employers’ and union organizations sent an open letter to the president of the Slovene government where they expressed concern about recent developments in social dialogue. They think...
Finland: the social partners reform unemployment benefits and pensions
izations – SAK for blue collars, STTK for white collars, AKAVA for university-level trades – and the confederation of Finnish industries (EK) reached an agreement on a major social...
Netherlands: outcry after the announcement of double bonuses for ABN Amro managers
mplained after a double bonus was awarded to about 500 managers for the second year in a row. It is suspicious as to the fairness of this bonus, awarded to the highest levels of the hierarchy...
Spain: unions and employers’ organizations fight about the inflation rate to take into account for wage increases
nion confederations, defined the threshold for wage increases to 2%, while the CEOE employers’ confederation draws the line at 1%. After seven years of consensus on the prices defined in the...
Italy: the CGIL mobilizes against the separate agreement on the reform of the conventional system
he largest union confederation in Italy unanimously approved a strategy to object to the January 22 separate agreement on the reform of the conventional system (see our dispatch No. 090080) signed...
Brazil: several metalworkers’ and mining unions accept wage reductions to save jobs
jobs, more and more unions sign agreements with businesses to reduce wages. The phenomenon, coming at a time when the government announced a 12% minimum wage increase, particularly concerns the...
Great Britain: unions decry British worker discrimination
Union statements. Unions argue that this issue goes beyond standard application of the EU’s free movement of labor accords, which guarantees workers from the European Union member states access to...
China: government gives priority to employment against the crisis
Help young graduates find a job. The number of graduates has reached a new record with over 6 million graduates in June 2009. But they are increasingly faced with problems in finding a job. In...
2 February 2009
United States: President Obama’s first measures for working conditions and union rights
lated by the Bush administration, American unions’ influence and members have considerably decreased in the last eight years. A few months ago, they put their faith in Barack Obama, and...
Dexia: EWC given priority in the information-consultation process of the announced restructuring
Job cuts. The recovery plan also comes with a global staffing cut plan, presented on January 31, to the EWC first and then to the group’s national works councils. Thus, the group decided to give...
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