Germany: the train drivers’ union (GDL) announced unlimited strike from March 10, 2008 on
The longest conflict in the history of German rail, supposed to be over, started up again with even greater intensity. In the aftermath of the flop of the negotiations between the Deutsche Bahn...
DP World: agreement to establish a EWC in the subsidiary of the shipping company Dubai Ports World
When the shipping company Dubai Ports World (DPW) bought the British shipping company P&O in 2006, an EWC was established for the European employees of the European subsidiary Port and Freezone...
Netherlands: towards clearer pay slips
The Dutch government announced, on March 3, 2008, a new bill aiming at unifying the wage concept. There are six different definitions of this notion in the current legislation. However, the main...
Italy: social partners in the craft industry of the metal sector signed the agreement for the renewal of their national collective agreement
Social partners signed, on February 27, the agreement for the renewal of their national collective agreement, which ended in June 2000 for the regulation part and in December 2004 for the economic...
Germany: unions accuse the Deutsche Post of avoiding minimum wage
In a pilot-project, from March 1, the Deutsche Post AG wants paper careers to deliver non-addressed advertisement instead of its own mailmen. The Ver.di and DPVKOM unions are furious and accuse...
Italy: metalworkers approve their national collective agreement
75.13% voted "yes". This is the result of the referendum organized the Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil and Uilm-Uil unions on the draft agreement for the renewal of the metal sector's national agreement...
International: merger of UK transport union (RMT) and offshore union (OILC)
Members from the British union of Rail and Maritime Transport Workers (RMT) and those of the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC) voted, on February 14, in favor of a merger of the two...
Italy: €12m allocated to occupational safety trainings
Fondimpresa, the equal interprofessional training fund organized by the employers' confederation Confindustria and the three union confederations (Cgil, Cisl and Uil) allocated €12 million to pay...
Great Britain: government and unions trying to compromise on agency workers
On February 25, the government met with unions to try and find a compromise on agency workers. Gordon Brown is stuck between unions and the Labor party, who pressure him and growingly support...
Italy: renewal of the national collective agreement of the cement, lime and plaster industries
The Feneal-Uil, Filca-Cisl and Fillea-Cgil and the employers' federation Federmaco renewed, on February 19, the national collective agreement of the cement, lime and derivatives, plaster, mortar...
Rio Tinto Alcan: Alcan’s EWC wants a guarantee fund for restructurings
During a meeting of Alcan's EWC, on February 21, 2008, staff representatives received information from the new group's management after the merger with Rio Tinto (73.000 employees) concerning the...
Italy: negotiations on the reform of the conventional system started
On February 21, the employers' confederation Confindustria and the three union confederations Cgil, Cisl and Uil started negotiations on the reform of collective bargaining. Its main themes are...
Netherlands: few women executives in listed companies
On 5% of women are present within the boards of companies listed on Euronext, Amsterdam's stock market. Out of the 122 companies closely examined by Mijntje Lückerath-Rovers, a researcher at the...
21 February 2008
Air France KLM: social and ethical charter signed
The chairs of the airline companies Air France and KLM, Air France KLM's European Works Council and the general secretary of the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) signed, on February...
Germany: negotiations for the introduction of a minimum wage in the surveillance sector failed
Following the footsteps of the building sector, industrial cleaning and postal services, the surveillance and safety sector also wanted to get a branch minimum wage. But the negotiations between...
Hungary: a judgment on lawfulness of a strike organized by railway workers
At the beginning of February 2008 the Independent Union of Rail Men (VDSZSZ) organized a strike in the railway sector. On the one hand, the VDSZSZ demanded a 10 % wage increase from July 1 of 2007...
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: 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
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...
4
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...
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...