France: focus on the reform of the representativeness of union organizations
ocracy on August 20, 2008 completely disrupted the notion of union representativeness by ending the one automatically enjoyed the 5 main trade unions (CGT, CFDT, CFTC, CGT-FO and CFE-CGC –...
Netherlands: new limits to bosses’ bonuses
When the Finance Act 2009 was voted on November 26, 2008, the Dutch Parliament decided to set new limits to managers' remuneration. Bonuses related to the companies' results on the stock exchange...
Poland: the social partners sign a joint declaration on stress
The trade unions (union forum, NSZZ Solidarnosc, OPZZ) and employers' organizations (Lewiatan, Confederation of Polish Employers, Business Center Club, Association of Polish Craftsmen) signed, on...
Germany: the new leader of the Transnet rail union presents new conditions to the privatization of the Deutsche Bahn
Gathered at a congress on Sunday and Monday, the 326 representatives of the Transnet union - leading rail union with 230.000 members - elected Alexander Kirchner as their union's president. He's...
China: labor contract law is far from being respected in businesses
By reporting the proof of repeated violations by his employer and obtaining winning his case at the arbitration committee, Huang Weimu - a migrant worker in the Guangdong Province - has become an...
Enel: agreement on the establishment of a European works council
The management of the Enel group - Italy's largest and Europe's second power company (73.500 employees) - and the special negotiating body reached an agreement on November 6, 2008, on the...
Ireland: the social partners approve the national wage agreement
On November 17, 2008, the trade unions and employers approved the transitional agreement 2008-09 on wages (see our dispatch No. 080717) which is part of the second phase of the "Towards 2016...
Switzerland: UBS Outlines Variable Compensation Reform
In a move designed to bring about a "cultural shift" in the company, Switzerland's largest bank UBS has outlined a sweeping variable compensation plan reform. Notably, executive bonuses and...
GDF-Suez: EWC in favor of the wage increase
After the claim made by the European trade unions present within EDF's EWC in favor of wage increases, it is now GDF-Suez's turn to request a "more ambitious social policy enable a fairer share of...
Germany: train drivers at the Deutsche Bahn want a 10% wage increase
Whereas the "5 sages" (famous economists for the Federal government) predicted that Germany would enter recession in 2009, the joint committee for wage negotiations of the two major rail unions...
Repsol: agreement on the establishment of a union network for Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean
If the creation of transnational "union coordination" is becoming a common practice, the recognition of such coordination by a company is much less so. But it is the case of the Spanish group...
Slovakia: the Parliament is debating on the creation of a low-wage bonus
The Slovak lower parliamentary house is currently debating a state-funded benefit proposal designed to stimulate employment within the low-paid sector. If passed, the draft amendment to Act No...
StatoilHydro: revision of the international framework agreement
The management of the Norwegian group StatoilHydro (29.500 employees) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) with its Norwegian affiliate...
Germany: several companies refuse to apply the wage agreement in the metal sector
Hardly signed, the collective agreement which provides for a 4.2% wage increase in two steps for the 3.6 million workers in the metal and electronic sectors (see our dispatch No. 080888) is...
Argentina: Supreme Court ruling ends union monopoly
The Supreme Court ruled that the legislation which prevents a worker from being elected union representative if he wasn't a member of the official trade union, the CGT, was unconstitutional. This...
Bolivia: the government imposes a 12% wage increase upon businesse
The Bolivian government announced a decree determining to 12% the wage increase in the private sector in 2009. Companies say this is unworkable, and unions raise the bar to 25%. (Ref. 080894)
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