Italy: the labor world’s reaction to Silvio Berlusconi’s historic victory
For the first time in Italian history, there will be no-one from a left-wing party in Parliament. For the third time, Silvio Berlusconi won a majority in Parliament. Confindustria's outgoing...
Credit Agricole: interview with Marie-Christine Dumonal, group HR Director and Bernard Philippe, DDG in charge of HR at the FNCA
The management of the group Credit Agricole and the special negotiating body signed, on January 30, 2008, an agreement for the establishment of a European works council (see our article No...
Spain: the metal and textile-chemistry federations of CCOO start the last lap before the merger
The federal councils of the two federations announced that the congress which will definitely create the Comisiones obreras industry federation (FI-CCOO) will be held on February 19 and 20, 2009...
Germany: temp agencies sue the IG Metall for “blackmail”
Since the IG Metall launched, on April 9, 2008, a national campaign in favor of equal treatment between agency and permanent workers, the conflict in the temporary work sector has intensified (see...
Romania: the EMF points to the conflict which ended at Renault-Dacia
The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) set an example of the Renault's Dacia's strike in Romania, to ask for decent pay for all. This support comes whereas the collective conflict, which put...
Rio Tinto-Alcan: European unions announce a day of action on April 23
European trade union organizations of Rio Tinto-Alcan call employees for a large day of action which will take place on April 23 on every site of the group and before the European Parliament to...
Crédit Agricole : interview with Pascal Fesquet (CFDT), spokesman of the special negotiations body
At the outset, the positions were fairly far apart and the employees’ representatives were eager to move forward. We started by signing an agreement on the setting up of an ad hoc negotiating...
Nokia: Finnish unions call for an international framework agreement
Supported by the International Metalworkers' Federation and its European counterpart, several Finnish unions represented in the Nokia group called, on April 9, 2008, the Finnish firm to be the...
Vietnam: more and more wildcat strikes at foreign companies subcontractors
The temporary shutdown of the Ching Lue Shoes factory - a Vietnamese subcontractor for Nike -after 15.000 employees went on strike, is only the tip of the iceberg. Since 2005, strikes against low...
Germany: controversy around the new social and environmental standards for the award of public contracts
In order to adapt national law to European Directive 2004/18/EC on the modernization of procedures for the award of public contracts, the Ministry of the Economy presented a bill which proposes to...
Saint-Gobain: the EWC defends the group’s social model
Saint-Gobain Convention for European Social Dialogue's steering committee Members (the group's EWC), reacted, on April 8, to the agreement, adopted the 20th of March, about the entrance...
Michelin: amendment to the agreement on the EWC
The amendment, dated December 13, 2007 (see our article No. 080099), was signed on April 2 by the company’s management and the special group mandated by the committee to negotiate and finish the...
Germany: Ver.di suspects Aldi of financing a “counter-union” and wants to sue
Less than three weeks after lodging a complaint for bribery against the GNBZ (the young trade union of the postal sector's new companies), (see our dispatch No. 80230), the services' union Ver.di...
Deutsche Telekom: CWA and Ver.di form a single union for the T-Mobile division
The American Communications Workers of America – CWA, 700.000 members – and the German union confederation Ver.di (2.4 million members) announced, on April 3, 2008, the creation of a new union...
Netherlands: buying power at stake for spring social negotiations
The annual tripartite social meetings which will open on April 23 are going to evaluate the main ongoing reforms and spur new changes. This year, purchasing power is at issue. (Ref. 080282)
Freundenberg Group: the EWC wants to become a driving force in social policy with its “health map making” plan
An international family business, the German company Freundenberg employs 33.000 people, 22.000 of them in Europe. In 1996, a European works council was established. Last year, it decided to...
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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...
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...
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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...