News brief

EU: the social partners of the textile, clothing, leather and footwear adopt their work program
ral social dialogue committees of the textile-clothing, leather and footwear sectors adopted their work programs for 2009. Anticipating industrial change is at the heart of the textile-clothing...
Portugal: parental leave reform encourages fathers share the leave with mothers
ree-law reforming parental leave. The new law translates a will to better divide the leave between the two parents and start turning maternity leave into parental leave. (Ref. 090176) Share leaves...
Bosch: the European trade union coordination group of the brakes division mobilizes to anticipate coming restructurings
of Bosch brakes division, affiliated with the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) organized, on Monday, February 16, a European day of action. This initiative was aimed at...
China: migrant workers, the great mystery
nese economy strong. Cheap workers who stop at nothing, they massively leave poor countryside and provinces in western China to fill in the ranks of southern and eastern factories. Today however...
Italy: controversy over joining the general strike organized by the iron and steel workers and civil service of the CGIL
ganized by the Fiom and the public service of the CGIL has received, according to the Fiom, an average 70% backing in the iron and steel industry. However, the employers’ association...
Italy: government and regions sign agreement on social dampers resources
the government and regions concluded an agreement on resources allocated to social dampers. It provides that, in 2009-10, 8 billion euro will be dedicated to “actions to support income and...
Germany: government to improve the protection of personal data after the elections
scandals at the Deutsche Telekom (see our dispatch No. 080428) and at the Deutsche Bahn (No. 090110), Wolfgang Schauble, CDU Federal Minister for Home Affairs, announced, on February 16, 2009, the...
Mexico: public aid for businesses appealing to partial unemployment
nced new measures to fight the crisis’ negative impact on employment: 2 billion pesos (100 million euro) to avoid layoffs in businesses choosing partial unemployment. This aid will only be...
Germany: the Bundesrat introduces minimum wage in six more sectors
the Bundesrat – the Federal Council – agreed, on February 13, 2009, to establish minimum wage in six sectors with about 1.2 million employees. This vote ends a very controversial...
Italy: union alert on the crisis in the chemistry sector
edly threatened in the chemistry sector. Last week, the three Filcem-CGIL, Femca-Cisl and Uilcem-Uil unions raised the alarm on the crisis affecting the sector. Reminding its strategic value for...
Slovenia: round table on the crisis in the automotive industry
mber of Commerce and Industry organized a round table discussion on the crisis in the automotive industry and its impact on the Slovene economy. Although the representatives of the automotive...
Belgium: the 25.000 employees of Fortis fear for their job after shareholders rejected the recovery plan
ejected the group’s rescue plan, the staff representatives demanded an extraordinary works council meeting on February 12. The goal was to meet with the Belgian bank’s management and...
Lithuania: demonstrations against rising unemployment force government to open social dialogue
e crisis. As for the other two “Baltic tigers”, the economic slowdown was slightly felt as early as late 2006, together with strong inflation. After prosperous years, the country faces...
Renault: EWC expresses solidarity with Spanish workers
results for 2008, a delegation of Spanish employees went to Paris to express concern over their job’s future. The French car manufacturer’s EWC supported this approach in a...
EU: the European Metalworkers’ Federation presents its Manifesto for industrial policy
Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) published a “Manifesto for more and better industrial jobs.” This document, 12 pages long, details the federation’s view of necessary actions...
Germany: two studies drastically divided revive the debate on the protection against dismissals
Economy (IW), close to employers, and the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the Hans Blocker Foundation, close to unions, chose the same day to publish studies on the impact of the...
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
Ireland: minimum wage increase of 5,6% from 1 January 2027
The info. The Irish government has included a minimum wage increase of 79 cents in its Budget 2027, in line with recommendations from the Low Pay Commission. The rate will rise from €14.15...
2
Portugal: parental leave of up to six months paid at 100% from 2027 
The news. On 19 October, the Portuguese Parliament adopted a bill extending the duration of parental leave and the period for which benefits are paid. From 1 January 2027, leave will increase from...
3
China: draft bill to strengthen platform workers’ rights
On 8 October, the Chinese government published a draft bill open for consultation aimed at providing minimum guarantees to non-employee platform workers in terms of pay and working conditions. The...
23 October 2026
4
Is a global wage freeze at Volkswagen possible?
The existence of an option to implement a global wage freeze until 2030 has been confirmed by the management of the German group Volkswagen, which nevertheless provides no details and refers to...
20 October 2026
5
Spain: metal industry employers cut sick pay top-ups
To curb absenteeism, Spanish social partners in the metal sector are introducing new clauses into regional collective agreements to reduce the top-up payments made by employers during sick leave...
2 November 2026
6
Croatia: 7.6% minimum wage increase from 1 January 2027
The news. On 29 October, the Croatian Council of Ministers adopted a decree setting the minimum wage for 2027. This will rise from €1,050 to €1,130 gross per month from 1 January next...