News brief

Great Britain: new labor dispute resolution procedures enforced
usinesses and employees will have to follow procedures detailed in the code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures developed by the Acas. In-depth examination of a long-awaited...
Italy: Fincantieri employees mobilized after the refusal of signatory unions do a referendum on the company agreement
Uilm Uil signed the company agreement with the management of shipbuilding company Fincantieri. The Fiom-CGIL rejected it and demanded employee consultation via a referendum. The signatories...
PPR: EWC rejects restructuring plan announced for France
f PPR met for an extraordinary session in Paris, about the restructuring which will affect people employed by Fnac and Conforama in France. Although it only affects employees in one country, the...
Netherlands: employers criticize partial unemployment
system, which replaces the Arbeidstijdverkorting (ATV, working time reduction) since April 1, is far from getting unanimous support. Employers from large groups badly affected by the crisis...
Poland: job cuts at Arcelor-Mittal Poland revive the debate on the future of metallurgical industries
the major drop in orders on the steel market, Arcelor-Mittal Poland increased the number of job cuts, which may exceed the 1.480 initially planned for 2009. Representatives of the metallurgical...
Spain: UGT union reelects Candido Mendez as general secretary after 40th Congress
ss on April 1-4, Candido Mendez was reelected with 93.2% of votes for (none against) and more support than four years ago – when he gathered 75.9% of the votes. This reelection confirms that...
Great Britain: 2.500 pounds subsidies for hiring long-term unemployed
ses are entitled to “golden hellos”: they will receive 1.000 pounds (1.100 euros) for hiring someone who has been receiving unemployment benefits for at least six months, and a package...
Belgium: one year to implement a policy on drugs and alcohol on the workplace
aken in the interprofessional agreement of February 2, 2007, the social partners signed, on April 1, 2009, a collective agreement on drugs and alcohol on the workplace. The goal is to give...
Germany: law on employees’ capital interest enforced
n of employees in the equity of companies” (Mitarbeiterkapitalbeteiligungsgesetz), voted on January 22, 2009 by the MPs of the majority (see our dispatch No. 090116) entered into force on...
ThyssenKrupp: the European Metalworkers’ Federation joins the IG Metall’s call for mobilization
on, IG Metall, called for an “emergency demonstration for the future and safety of employment” within ThyssenKrupp (180.000 employees) and is calling for a demonstration in Duisburg...
Sweden: national training program to increase the number of women on company boards
sh government launched a national training program for women (styrelsekraft) with two objectives: to make visible and distinguish women with competence for membership of company boards as well as...
Spain: the CEOE employers’ confederation re-elect Gerardo Diaz Ferran chairman
e Spanish employers’ confederation was re-elected by 83% of the votes, in spite of his reputation as a hardly consensual man within the organization and his fights with unions. He was the...
HP-EDS: the EWCs of the two groups say no voluntary wage cut program
cils of Hewlett-Packard and EDS met, on March 26-27, staff representatives expressed their opposition to the wage cuts – voluntary and permanent – proposed by HP’s European...
Great Britain: Equality and Human Rights Commission proposes to reform parental leave
th 5.3 billion pounds a year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission calls for a revision of parental leave to reduce the gender pay gap and involve men in family life. The CBI employers’...
Germany: Airbus Deutschland also spied on its employees
and Deutsche Bahn, Airbus Deutschland is now hit by a spying scandal. The German subsidiary of the European aeronautical consortium Airbus, subsidiary of EADS, recognized, on April 2, 2009, that...
Mexico: airlines and airports cut 1.000 jobs each month
sector. In recent months, 6.400 jobs have been cut. Bu June, another 4.000 people will loose their job in airlines and businesses providing services on the ground. An agreement signed by unions...
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
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
3
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
4
Italy: collective agreement for rubber and plastics sector focuses on new skills
A month ahead of schedule, the Federazione Gomma Plastica employers' organisation and the Filctem-Cgil, Femca-Cisl and Uiltec trade unions have renewed the collective agreement for the rubber and...
5 January 2026
5
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...
6
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