News brief

Germany: Opel’s WC calls on all the European employees of the group to protest, on January 26, against the shutdown of the Antwerp plant
l, announced the shutdown of the Antwerp plant on January 21, the conflict between unions and the parent company, General Motors, toughened. Qualifying this decision of a “declaration of...
United States: the results of the Massachusetts senatorial elections jeopardize the draft reform of health insurance and the Employee Free Choice Act
blican Senator in Massachusetts changes the power struggle in Congress and weakens cases supported by American unions, such as the reform of health insurance and the Employee Free Choice Act...
Sweden: learning agreement in the wood industry departs from layoff order to keep young skilled workers
e wood and furniture sector signed by the GS union (Forest, Wood and Graphic Workers’ Union) and its employers’ counterpart, Tra och moberlindustriforbundet (furniture and wood...
Austria: banking employees get a 1.36% raise
to go through the four statutory negotiating meetings to reach, on Tuesday, January 19, a wage agreement. The sector’s 80,000 employees will see their salary increase of 0.75% on February 1...
Great Britain: family policy at the heart of the electoral debate
s, the Department for Children, Schools and Families presented, on January 20, a Green Paper on Families which contains several proposals on how to improve work-life balance. It notably promises a...
Colombia: 3.64% minimum wage increase after failed negotiations between the social partners
a 3.64% minimum wage increase after the recurrent stalemate of negotiations between unions and employers on the issue. The increase is lower than planned inflation in 2010 – 2%, like in...
Romania: government blocks pension increase, angering pensioners who threaten to go down in the street
iament adopted the 2010 budget. Because of the severe recession which affected the country in 2009, this budget is very strict. The pension scheme is one of the many victims of this budget...
Italy: the first Observatory on occupational safety was set up in Milan
Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), the Regional Equal Committee for Occupational Safety in Construction (CPT) and the Tribunal of Milan created, on January 14, the first Italian...
Poland: launching of the National Development Committee
ounced during the last social summit in March 2009, the National Development Committee met for the first time on January 7. This structure, which gathers all sorts of experts, will soon look into...
Great Britain: guide helps businesses prepare for the implementation of employees’ right to request time to train
inesses with over 250 employees will have the right to request free time to attend vocational training. All employees will be concerned in 2011. To prepare businesses to deal with this new right...
Denmark: historical agreement for the closure of the last cigarette plant in Denmark
or the shutdown of House of Prince was qualified as “the best agreement” of this kind in the country. Not only does it provide for generous compensation for the 500 employees who will...
Italy: youth employment program for 2020
tween school and work, revive technical and vocational education, apprenticeship contracts, revise the role of postgraduate training…these are some of the priorities of the “Italia...
Germany: Opel’s WC opposed to 9,000 job cuts in Europe
h the parent company, General Motors, calmed down a little, Klaus Franz, chairman the central works council of Opel, German subsidiary of GM, vividly criticized, on December 29, 2009, the savings...
Spain: government prepares draft pension reform
e of the draft reform seems rather limited. The key amendments the government wants to introduce affect the extension of periode of the contributions and survivors’ pensions. The final...
Italy: Enel and unions sign framework agreement on training
tion of the Social Responsibility Protocol signed in April 2009, the agreement concluded on December 23 by Enel and unions brings about a new era in terms of training. The new equal committee...
Netherlands: faster e-court for labor disputes
nage disputes related to everyday life – unpaid wages, labor disputes. It will work faster as soon as the parties present their problem. This court, which is more like an arbitration court...
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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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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
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...
5
Carrefour and UNI Global Union renew global agreement on promoting social dialogue and diversity
On 17 October, Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retailers, with nearly 500,000 employees worldwide, and global union federation UNI Global Union renewed their global agreement on...
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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...