News brief

Belgium: anticrisis measures extended to June 30, 2010
en the social partners failed, the Federal Government decided, on December 15, during a limited Council of Ministers, to add six months to three measures adopted in June to face businesses’...
Portugal: notice of strike for December 24th in retailing
e and Service Workers of Portugal, CESP (affiliated with the CGTP-IN), called for a 24-hour strike on Christmas Eve to protest against the sector’s employers’ request to bring maximum...
Germany: labor cost increase down after two quarters up
ember 9 by the Federal Statistics Agency show that labor costs have been still in Germany for the 3rd 2009 quarter compared with the second 2009 quarter. It is a sign of stabilization of working...
Italy: social partners sign joint opinion of employee participation in enterprise profits
l partners save the CGIL signed a joint opinion recognizing employee participation in enterprise profits as an element of quality employment and productivity. The document provides for a follow-up...
Germany: Deutsche Bahn to cut nearly 14,000 jobs within five years
Tagesspiegel” daily wrote that the German railway, Deutsche Bahn, allegedly intends to cut around 14,000 jobs over the next five years, to overcome the impact of the crisis. The merchandise...
Spain: BBVA closes bank agencies on Saturday morning
d an agreement to close the 3,000 offices on Saturday morning. Workers will enjoy working time compensation. (Ref. 091141) As of December 26, BBVA employees will be free on Saturday, in exchange...
Sweden: Scania signs another company agreement for its 12,000 employees
national bus and truck manufacturer, announced that it signed a new company agreement with the If Metall (metalworkers’ union) and Teckniksföretag (supervisory union). As Veli-Pekka...
Belgium: ACV-CSC Textura and CSC Metal merge, creating ACV-CSC Metea, the federation of industry and the technology sector
d textile federations of the CSC, the Belgian Christian union, officially merged, creating ACV-CSC Metea. This new organization should help the union have a better say in sectoral bargaining...
Triumph International: Thai and Filipino unions organize a European tour to object to 3,600 compulsory layoffs
nternational, one of the world leaders in women’s lingerie, let go 3,600 workers in three plants in Thailand and the Philippines. Triumph justified this by operating losses and a global...
EU: the Twenty-Seven open the debate on the post-2010 Lisbon Strategy
on December 10-11, the heads of State and government of the EU, gathered in Brussels, opened the debate on the reform of the Lisbon strategy. They want it to be an “ambitious”...
United States: BP fined 87.4 million dollars by OSHA
Health Administration, OSHA, fined BP 87.4 million dollars for failure to respect safety rules in its Texas refinery. This fine, of an unprecedented amount, shows the new government’s will...
Netherlands: fewer judges agree to the judicial termination of labor contracts
ans have been accepted this year. The Het Financieele Dagblad daily says that courts refused 18% of layoff requests in 2009, as opposed to 12% in 2008 and 10% in 2007. Only 9.3.3% of layoffs were...
Germany: collective agreements signed by the Christian Union in the temporary sector are useless
hristian Trade Unions (CGZP), which appealed to the ruling rendered by the Berlin Labor Court in April, was defeated again. Confirming the decree of the first instance tribunal, the regional labor...
Great Britain: government launches national strategy for better mental health
(see our dispatch No. 090801). On December 7, 2009, the government published a strategy aimed at helping workers with mental health issues find and keep a job. The key measures are a helpline to...
Germany: with the “Sindelfingen 2020” agreement, Daimler offers job security to 37,000 employees
e management of the German carmaker signed with the staff and union representatives a company agreement guaranteeing, among other things, job security the 37,000 employees of the Sindelfingen...
Spain: Santander bank open talks for its second gender equality program
st large Spanish businesses to develop an equality program, in compliance with the law of March 2007. This first program, signed in October 2007, for two years, has expired. On December 3...
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
Catherine Chavanier (CDC Habitat): “Social dialogue on AI facilitates its deployment”
In February, CDC Habitat (10,500 employees) signed a two-year framework agreement governing social dialogue on AI. Catherine Chavanier, HR Director of the subsidiary of CDC (Caisse des dépôts et...
2
Greece: hospitality sector signs first collective agreement aligned with National Social Pact
The hospitality sector (125,000 employees), one of Greece’s largest industries after retail, signed a new two-year collective agreement on 17 March. The text, effective from 1 April 2026...
3
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...
4
France: Club Med includes “multiculturalism” in its professional equality agreement
In December 2025, Club Med and the CFTC, Unsa, and FO trade unions signed an agreement on professional equality and working conditions. It introduces measures addressing AI, pay transparency, and...
23 March 2026
5
France: bioMérieux’s new disability agreement pivots towards mental health
The news. On 6 January 2026, bioMérieux—an in vitro diagnostics specialist employing 4,400 people in France—signed a new four-year agreement “relating to the employment...
6
Germany: a wave of redundancy plans in the automotive sector
The latest financial results presented in early 2026 by major German car manufacturers show sharp declines. This collapse in profits has triggered the announcement or confirmation of massive job...
16 March 2026