News brief

EU: the 27 are divided on the European Private Company Statute, especially worker participation in the managing bodies
tiations on the status of the European company isn’t accidental. The participation of workers in managing bodies is at the heart of the disagreement between the Twenty-Seven on the draft...
United States: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis presents 2010 agenda
s wants to revise, adjust and redress 90 regulations affecting labor relations. These reforms can be carried out outside any legislative process, the outcome of which remains uncertain. The...
Germany: Constitutional Court reaffirms the principle of Sunday rest
t to Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin, the Karlsruhe Constitutional Court ruled, on December 1, that the Berlin law on stores’ opening hours, which allows stores to open for the four Advent...
Portugal: government proposes raising minimum wage to 475 euros in 2010
hly minimum wage amounting to 475 euros in 2010, to apply the commitment taken with the social partners in 2006. This proposal still needs to be discussed by the social dialog committee. (Ref...
Belgium: boom of young “prepensioners” because of the crisis
the prepension system in 2008. This year, already 2,393 people have, i.e. a 400% increase in one year. In theory, early retirement – which allows workers of a certain age who were fired to...
Sweden: unions and employer fight over part-time in retail and trade for 2010 negotiations
‘ organization in retail and trade, responded strongly to the claim presented by the sector’s union, Handels, to introduce a right to full time work into collective agreements. The...
EU: employment and skills at the heart of the revival of European sectoral social dialog in finance
ing daggers at each other, trade union and employers’ organizations in the banking sector met on November 27. Talks resumed around a report commissioned by the European Commission on the new...
Netherlands: TNT Post gives up European ambitions
ced that it abandoned its strategy for a pan-European post. The Dutch group is going to sell its postal subsidiaries abroad and is looking for partners in Germany and the UK. TNT Post keeps on...
Germany: walkout at Daimler, calm at Opel
s at the Sindelfingen plan demonstrated, on Friday, December 4, in Stuttgart, to protest against the management’s will to transfer, starting in 2014, most of the production of the C-Class to...
EU: European social dialog in the paper industry on the way of formalization
e paper sector, CEPI and EMCEF, informed the European Commission in October that they wanted to take cooperation further. To validate the formalization of European social dialog in the sector, the...
Hungary: two new acts revise the functioning of tripartite and sectoral social dialog structures
arian Constitutional Court questioning the co-determination right granted to national and sectoral social dialog structures, the Hungarian Parliament adopted two acts revising the powers of these...
Spain: Michelin signs job cut agreement providing for 380 early retirements
entral works council and management signed an employment regulation program (ERE) which will be implemented on January 1, 2010 and which will end in 380 early retirements. They also announced the...
EU: political agreement on the draft directive on parental leave
Council of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs signed a political agreement on the draft directive on parental leave, based on the agreement signed by the European social partners in June...
EU: left-wing economist Laszlo Andor appointed Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs
stranger, an economist with no political experienced specialized in the transition of eastern economies, the European Commission is showing its will to turn the Employment and Social Affairs...
Italy: preparations for the next CGIL Congress uncover the internal conflict
tional executive committee on November 23 launched the preparations for the confederation’s 16th Congress, in Rimini on May 5-8, 2010, during which the two conflicting programs will be...
Portugal: the enforcement of the Social Security Code is postponed to January 2011
Portuguese Parliament voted to postpone to January 2011 the enforcement of the new Social Security Code, initially planned for January 1, 2010. Highly criticized since it was adopted, this code...
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
Oliver Dietrich (IG Metall): “The advent of AI can be a means of deepening social partnership within companies”
In Germany, trade unions want to influence how AI is deployed in companies. Oliver Dietrich is an AI project manager at the regional office of the IG Metall trade union in North Rhine-Westphalia...
2
EU: social partners split over competitiveness and action on job quality
The European Trade Union Confederation and BusinessEurope have published their response to the consultation document on the European Commission's upcoming EU quality jobs initiative. The two...
4 February 2026
3
Germany: collective bargaining negotiations begin in chemical industry
Collective bargaining talks in Germany’s chemical and pharmaceutical industries are due to open this week, covering nearly 580,000 employees across around 1,700 companies. With the sector facing...
3 February 2026
4
Italy: new generational renewal agreement penned at UniCredit
The agreement signed on 30 December by UniCredit, Italy’s second-largest banking group, with the Fabi, First-Cisl, Fisac-Cgil, Uilca and Unisin trade unions aims to continue generational...
5
France: social partner talks extend far beyond contractual terminations
After a false start on 3 December, French social partners resumed talks on 7 January 2026 on potential changes to the unemployment insurance agreement, including the rules governing compensation...
12 January 2026
6
EU: banking sector social partners commit to combating violence and harassment
On 15 January, the trade union federation UNI Europa Finance and three employers’ associations in the banking sector signed a joint statement on preventing violence and harassment in the...