News brief

Great Britain: agency workers targeted by government aid for vulnerable workers
ent Board, gathering the government, employers and unions, is meeting once again to fight against “abusive” employers. Agency workers, at the center of their concern, are targeted by...
Germany: SAP management and staff representatives reach a compromise on a new structure for the works council
ries into the parent company, in April 2008, led to a legal battle between the company’s management and staff representatives on the structure of SAP’s WCs. After several conflicting...
Great Britain: Unite rescues jobs in the automotive sector
y union, Unite, launched a national campaign to safeguard jobs in the automotive industry, in a context of redundancies and bankruptcies. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)...
Germany: Deutsche Telekom and Ver.di call on a mediator to clear up their payroll differences
the fourth round of wage negotiations, the Deutsche Telekom phone company, and the Ver.di services union decided, on February 28, 2009, to launch a conciliation procedure and asked Henning...
Germany: Volkswagen to end all contracts with agency workers
-offs for others: Martin Winterkorn, chief executive of the German carmaker VW, announced in an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel (02.03) that the group is going to cut this year all the...
Italy: the Council of Ministers approves the bill on the reform of the right to strike
0% of union members must vote for it. Failing this, if the strike call is voted by at least 20%, it will be necessary for them to obtain approval by 30% through a “prior compulsory...
General Motors Europe: European mobilization to save Opel and Saab
s of the American firm mobilized throughout Europe to protest against the announced restructuring. Opel/Vauxhall and Saab’s employees are the main targets, while GM is planning drastic cuts...
Germany: in western Germany, the textile industry threatens with warning strikes
at the 3rd negotiation round of February 26, 2009 was “intolerable”, the IG Metall union (metalworkers), which demands a 5.5% wage increase for employees in the textile and clothing...
Austria: unions accept to reduce the time partially unemployed workers are protected against dismissal
strian Parliament voted an amendment to the law on partial unemployment, which legally brings it from 6 to 18 months maximum. Meanwhile, the social partners signed an agreement which enables...
Sweden: the economic situation jeopardizes unemployment insurance funds
omic crisis in Sweden, the number of jobseekers reached a record level in January 2009 – 7.3% of the active population – a level it didn’t reach since the 1970s. With dismissal...
Brazil: legal battle on dismissals within the Embraer aircraft company
for one week the 4.270 dismissals announced by the third aircraft manufacturer in the world, Embraer, until the conciliation meeting with unions. They ask the government to nationalize the...
Belgium: Volvo extends partial unemployment until summer
k, based in Gent, northwestern Belgium, announced the extension of partial unemployment measures until the end of June, at least. In February, Volvo introduced a system with two or three idle days...
Poland: the social partners keep talking about the crisis at their social summit
h No. 090194), a social summit held on February 25, at the request of President Lech Kaczynski, gathering unions, employers’ organizations, representatives from the government, local...
Finland: government unilaterally raises normal retirement age from 63 to 65
, on February 24, 2009, that the government decided to progressively raise retirement age from 63 to 65. It will be put into place by a measure destined to finance retirement in the context of the...
Austria: Telekom Austria’s Director of Personnel creates an outrage by explaining his “mobbing” techniques on YouTube
ube video sharing website shows Gernot Schieszler, Director of Personnel of the largest telephone company in Austria, explain to investors how to lobby hundreds of employees with the status of...
Italy: court confirms legitimacy of emails at work for union communication
ily) condemned the S.T. Microelectronics company for antiunion behavior for it sanctioned a Fiom representative for sending union emails to the professional emails of his colleagues. By doing...
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
United Kingdom: government urged to legislate against forced labour
After consulting victims, businesses and NGOs, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) has published a report showing that the UK is lagging behind in the fight against forced labour. The...
13 January 2026
2
EU: European Parliament calls for a directive on just transition
On 20 January, MEPs approved, with 420 votes in favour, an own-initiative report calling for a just transition directive. The text calls for the protection of workers to be guaranteed in the...
20 January 2026