News brief

Slovakia: commentary of the Labor Code amendment coming into force on September 1, 2011
Slovakian Parliament, the amendment to the Labor Code which brings many changes to nearly one third of labor law regulations was adopted on July 13th by a very small majority. On July 27th, the...
Portugal: in-house vocational internships to be paid
ion of in-house internships of more than three months will come into force on September 1st. It aims to encourage the integration of young people on the labor market. (Ref. 110495) New act. The...
Netherlands: Abvakabo union joins FNV and Allies in the struggle against the pension reform
000 members, joined the FNV and Allies in protesting the pension reform. This bill was subject to extensive negotiations in 2008 and 2009 but unions disagree on two major points:the financial risk...
United States: Supreme Court puts an end to massive class actions
the discrimination claims lodged by 1.6 million women against Wal-Mart could not be given the class action status because they were not based on “common facts.” Consequently, there...
EU: European trade unions renew opposition to European austerity policy
ropean Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), thousands of workers marched in Luxembourg on June 21st to protest European leaders’ austerity plans. They were 7,000 according to the police and at...
21 June 2011
Spain: Court cancels minimum services established by the Region of Madrid for the last subway strike
e of Madrid a posteriori cancelled the minimum services imposed for the last subway strike in the capital on June 29-30, 2010. The same chamber also invalidated the minimum services demanded on...
United States: OUR Wal-Mart or how the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union is trying to organize Wal-Mart employees on the internet since it cannot do it in the stores
ing a new form of social activism. As it has always managed to keep unions at a distance, one of them has decided to counter attack by creating an online rallying space. This new group...
Romania: planned merger between two key union confederations
l Union Bloc), two of the key union confederations in Romania, are currently thinking about merging. The idea of uniting to rebuild the union movement is not new but is back after recent reforms...
Great Britain: battle of figures on deaths caused by industrial accidents just before the “Workers’ Memorial Day”
Workers’ Memorial Day. The day is to commemorate those that have died, been injured or made ill through their work, with the headline slogan ‘Remember the dead – fight for the...
27 April 2011
GDF Suez: interview of Bernard Parmantier, industrial relations director of the group, on the global agreement on fundamental rights, social dialogue and sustainable development
n framework agreements, one on health and safety at work and one on GPEC (Jobs and Skills Management Planning), GDF Suez is going ahead with international bargaining. The group announced, on...
EU: interview with Dominique Bailly, chairman of the European social dialogue committee of the postal sector
of the postal market, Dominique Bailly, advisor for the general delegate of the French Post Office and chairman of the European social dialogue committee in the postal sector, is talking about the...
Rhodia: interview with Bernard Chambon, President of Rhodia Chemistry, and Jacques Kheliff, sustainable development director
global agreement with the International Federation of Chemical Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), Rhodia stands out with its early commitment in terms of CSR. In an interview...
Great Britain: government presents plan to extend the right to flexible work
on September 30th: parents of children under 18 will be allowed to ask their employer for flexible working arrangements from next April. This is a first step towards the possible extension of this...
International: interview of Jerry Fernandez, American president of the transatlantic union federation, Workers Uniting
at Britain, and the United Steelworkers Union (USW), United States, decided to join forces within Workers Uniting to be more active against multinationals and better face the multiple relocation...
France: interview of Marcel Grignard, CFDT deputy national secretary
the pension reform, which is getting all the attention from the press and politicians in France because of the country’s news, the CFDT’s congress (in Tours from June 7th to June 11th...
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
France: Cabinet adopts pay transparency bill
After several months of delay beyond the European deadline of 7 June 2026, French Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou finally presented the bill transposing the Pay Transparency Directive to the...
10 September 2026
2
Germany: IG Metall demands 5% pay rise amid severe pressure
Despite the crisis hitting the automotive industry, the leadership of the German trade union IG Metall announced on Wednesday 23 September that it would be asking for a 5% pay increase as well as...
23 September 2026
3
Italy: Crédit Agricole introduces a handbook on managerial behaviour
The document adopted in mid-July by Crédit Agricole Italia and the main banking trade unions goes beyond the proper use of meetings and emails. This six-point handbook aims to foster constructive...
3 September 2026
4
Slovakia: 6% increase in the minimum wage from 1 January 2027
The news. As Slovakia’s social partners failed to reach an agreement during tripartite negotiations, Labour Minister Erik Tomas has decided to increase the minimum wage by 6% from 1 January...
1 September 2026
5
Spain: government revisits its draft decree on salary transparency
The Spanish Ministry of Labour has opened a consultation on the transposition of the European directive on salary transparency and the reduction of the gender pay gap. This decision follows a...
8 September 2026
6
EU: Commission proposes a list of worker-related criteria for public procurement
The news. On 9 September, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation aimed at unifying European public procurement law, which accounts for 15% of European GDP. It is notably set...
17 September 2026