Labour relations

We are relaying the ETUI’s call to European WC members and coordinators to complete a survey that seeks to find out how EWCs have been involved in managing the impact of the Covid pandemic...

9 February 2021

Italy: collective agreement reached in metals industry

After 15 months of negotiations, interspersed with suspensions, the national collective agreement for the metals industry – which expired at the end of 2019 – was renewed on 5 February. A draft...

8 February 2021

Belgium: social partners in favour of creating a leave allowance for Covid-19 vaccinations

Following a request by Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgium’s economy and employment minister, the country’s National Labour Council – a body made up of representatives from employer...

8 February 2021

Germany: Volkswagen’s new car software developer, CSO, signs an ‘iterative’ collective agreement

On 28 January Volkswagen Group management together with the IG Metall union announced the signature of an in-house agreement for the 4,000 employees of the Group’s new software development...

3 February 2021

Great Britain: Airbus employees agree a reduction in working hours and salaries in order to avoid layoffs

On 01 February, and following weeks of negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer, the Unite trade union announced that its members working at the Airbus site in Broughton, Wales, had voted in...

2 February 2021

Spain: a draft collective agreement concluded for the banking sector that also frames remote working

On 29 January the Asociación Española de Banca (AEB – Spain’s banking employers association), together with representatives of the CCOO, UGT and FINE trade unions concluded the broad outlines of a...

2 February 2021

India: Government seeks to extend social protection to ‘gig economy’ workers

On 01 February, while presenting the national budget for fiscal year 2021-2022, India’s Minister of Finance announced the government's will to extend social protection to those living in the ‘gig...

2 February 2021

Belgium: inter-professional collective agreement signed for the implementation of compulsory telework in companies during 2021

On 26 January 2021, Belgium’s National Labor Council (a joint employer-employee representative body that negotiates inter-professional collective agreements), together with trade union...

28 January 2021

United States: President Biden’s first pro-union and occupational health and safety initiatives

As soon as he arrived in the White House, President Joe Biden made his mark on the relationship between his administration and the trade unions. Almost immediately upon his swearing in, the 46th...

27 January 2021

Google: Alpha Global, a global trade union alliance launches as a counterweight to the company

Less than 3 weeks after the announcement of the launch of a Google labour union (the Alphabet Workers Union) in the United States an international coalition of 13 Google unions (Verdi, Unionen...

26 January 2021

Belgium: negotiations for the next national inter-professional agreement sticking over the salary standard

This is a key moment for Belgium’s labor relations. The bi-annual inter-professional agreement as negotiated by the ‘Group of 10’ representatives of the country’s private...

26 January 2021

United States: rate of union membership rises despite fall in member numbers, due to decline in wage and salary employment

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of workers in the US who are members of a trade union fell by 321,000 to 14.3 million, according to a report published on 22 January by the Bureau of Labor...

25 January 2021

EU: recommendations from European trade union federations to help EWC representatives manage the impact of Brexit

The trade union federations IndustriAll Europe, Uni Europa, EFFAT, EPSU, ETF and EFBWW have issued “joint […] recommendations to EWC/SE coordinators and worker representatives in SNBs, EWCs and...

22 January 2021

TK Elevator: signs a global framework agreement

On 25 November 2020 the TK Elevator group (TKE group) together with IndustriALL Global union, the German works council, the European Works Council and the German trade union federation IG Metall...

21 January 2021

France: Solvay signs teleworking agreement that implements the group’s new global mobile working policy

On 18 December 2020, Belgian chemicals group Solvay signed an agreement with the French CFDT and CFE-CGC trade unions, albeit without the CGT union, to enhance flexibility by giving employees in...

20 January 2021

Great Britain: fresh decision on European Works Councils against the backdrop of Verizon’s transfer of its representative agent to Ireland and the removal of UK representatives

Is this the final episode in the Verizon European Works Council (EWC) saga? Barring a reversal on appeal, it would appear that despite its determined activism, the Verizon EWC (c.f. articles...

19 January 2021

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France: La Poste to launch negotiations for an AI agreement

Following the lead of firms such as Axa, Syensqo globally, and more recently CDC Habitat, La Poste group management will open negotiations on an AI regulation agreement during the first half of...

5 March 2026

France: Crédit Agricole to tighten remote work rules

Crédit Agricole is to adopt stricter rules on remote work from mid-March onwards. The rules will be tightened for employees, but the maximum number of days working remotely will remain unchanged.

29 January 2026

France: Orange submits gender equality agreement – including AI provisions – for union approval

The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...

8 December 2025

mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators

In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...

31 October 2025

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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

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

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

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

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

UK: duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union postponed to 1 January 2027

The news. On 25 September, the British government published its response to a consultation launched on 23 October on the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. The...

1 October 2026