News brief

EU: European Commission agrees to EGF funding for Irish employees laid off by Dell
f the European Commission, announced, on September 19, that the EU was ready to pay for the reconversion program for Dell’s Irish workers – up to 14.8 million euro, via the European...
Poland: ITF launches support campaign for LOT workers
the polish airline were laid off and after the management unilaterally terminated a company agreement, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (IFT) launched an international...
Germany: construction union lays the foundations for “alternative” wage negotiations
ress (20th Gewerkschaftstag – September 14-17), the IG BAU announced a reorientation of its stands for future collective bargaining. On the menu: high wage increases and minimum claims above...
Portugal: workers in ailing businesses get better protection if wages are temporarily not paid
r 14 introduces better protection for workers if their ailing business can temporarily not pay their wages, by suspending their labor contract to receive unemployment benefits. (Ref. 090855) The...
Netherlands: government envisions encouraging employees change careers after a certain number of years performing arduous work
wants to reform the labor market from top to bottom to avoid people who are physically or mentally exhausted at the end of their career. The goal is to ensure there will be no exceptions when...
Great Britain: TUC’s annual congress focused on economic policy
C union was held in Liverpool on September 14-17. Unions called for a new policy protecting jobs, pensions and the middle classes. Gordon Brown promised he would protect jobs in the public sector...
Brazil: auto workers at Sao Paulo get a pay raise used as a goal by other metalworkers on strike
union obtained a 6.53% wage increase – higher than inflation – for the 53,000 workers of the car plants in Sao Paulo. However, the new collective agreement doesn’t affect workers...
Denmark: unions first in line against social dumping
ions have been involved, for two weeks, with the embargo of a construction site in the city of Valby (Copenhagen) to obtain a collective agreement for the twelve posted polish workers...
Italy: Fiom-CGIL confirms intention to launch a national strike in metalworking on October 9
ccanica employers’ federation rejected the proposition made by the Fiom-CGIL, largest metalworkers’ union, to conclude a temporary agreement to avoid the adoption of a separate...
Portugal: new act introduces new tax system for golden parachutes
(No. 100/09) introduces a special tax system for managers’ benefits if they leave the company earlier than expected. It also amends corporations’ tax code to introduce a 35% tax for...
EU: BusinessEurope wrote a note on the impact of the new EWC directive on existing agreements
ch led to the new revised EWC directive, the European social partners are taking care of after-sale services by making their lawyer work on the effects of the new text. The European Trade Union...
Spain: Supreme Court decision makes mass layoffs more flexible
h 18, 2009, aimed at “harmonizing case laws,” the social chamber of the supreme court set the principle according to which the opening of a procedure for mass layoffs (employment...
General Motors: Magna’s takeover of Opel creates fear
d by the German government for the recovery of the German carmaker Opel bring fears of a restructuring program affecting, at first, employees in Belgium, Spain and Hungary. On Monday, September...
Netherlands: for the first time, unions are going to discuss the wages of ING’s managers
ING, the largest bank in the Netherlands, agreed they would talk, in October, about huge wages within the bank, as part of the extension to December 31, 2011 of the current collective agreement...
Mexico: university study shows that young skilled Mexican workers are fleeing
rs is blaming employers for not taking advantage of the full potential of the country’s workforce. Their study shows that young Mexicans in proportions which have never been seen before...
EU: tomorrow, the European Parliament will vote for the investiture of Jose Manuel Barroso, who is trying to win as many votes as possible over
should invest Jose Manuel Barroso as Chairman of the European Commission. Last week, the applicant to succeed himself was heard by political groups to present his program and try to win over MEPs...
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
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
Germany: launch of the “WE-Fair” alliance for binational training of skilled foreign workers
Germany continues to expand and diversify its initiatives to attract skilled foreign labour from outside the EU. In mid-March 2026, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development...
4
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
5
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...