News brief

Skanska: the Swedish construction firm organized a Safety Week on all its sites in the world on October 17-23
he company organized, for its 52,000 employees worldwide, a Skanska Safety Week. This year, it was called “empowerment” and aimed to give employees a sense of responsibility to all the...
1 November 2011
Great Britain: “Swedish derogation” legally allowing businesses to avoid the Agency Workers’ Act
have asked their temporary work agencies to permanently hire the workers they send them, so that they don’t have to pay agency workers as permanent workers, which has been required by law...
Italy: towards the application of the “Pomigliano model” in all Fiat undertakings in Italy
Uil, Fim, Uilm and Fismic unions on October 25th, Fiat confirmed its programs for its Italian undertakings and got unions’ consent for the negotiation of a single collective agreement for...
Spain: union and employers’ organizations strike deal to unfreeze sectoral collective bargaining
tive agreements have been frozen for several years. Therefore, the UGT and Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) unions and the CEOE and Ceypme employers’ organizations signed an agreement to...
Germany: Airbus signs “Agreement for the Future” with job security until 2020
the Airbus social partners in Germany announced that they finally stroke a “complementary” collective agreement on working conditions and the organization of labor. After months of...
Portugal: unions call for a general strike on November 24th against 2012 austerity measures
d to join forces against austerity and are calling for a general strike on November 24th. This date overlaps with the last reading of the tentative 2012 budget before the final vote on November...
GDF Suez: EWC renders negative opinion on the partnership with the CIC Chinese Sovereign wealth fund because of doubts on the CSR compatibility of the fund’s investments
stments a subject for EWCs? In any case, the EWC of GDF Suez rendered, on October 13th, a negative opinion on the plan to open the capital of its Gas exploration business (“Exploration et...
Austria: launch of collective negotiations for 520,000 trade employees
d in the Austrian trade on Wednesday, October 19th for 520,000 employees (280,000 for retail trade alone). The renegotiation of the biggest collective agreement in the country is arriving the day...
Deutsche Bahn: German railway launches program at group level to increase the proportion of female employees
eutsche Bahn (DB) has set out clear objectives to increase the number of women in management over the next few years. And the railway company also concretely explained how it was going to do it...
19 October 2011
United States: former Wall Street banker advises American letter carriers union
Letter Carriers (NALC) asked Ron Bloom, restructurings expert, to help with the revitalization of the US Post Office. (Ref. 110627) In the US, the NALC recently hired Ron Bloom, restructurings...
19 October 2011
AXA: interview of Guillaume Floquet and Daniel Vaulot, respectively Deputy Head of AXA Group Human Resources and EWC secretary, about the European agreement on anticipation
group to sign an agreement on the anticipation of change. Guillaume Floquet and Daniel Vaulot, respectively Global Head of Human Resources and Secretary of the European Works Council, are telling...
Austria: metalworkers get a 4.2% wage increase
aining, the metal social partners announced, this morning (October 18th), that they agreed on an average 4.2% wage increase for the sector’s 165,000 employees. It will come into force on...
Germany: large businesses to “noticeably” increase the proportion of women in management and give clear objectives for the first time ever
employment managers of the DAX 30 companies (German stock market) completely rejected the introduction of a statutory quota of women in management during a large summit on this theme held on...
18 October 2011
Netherlands: government to make work outside the office more flexible
gulations governing work outside the office will be more flexible and allow employees not only to work from home but from wherever they please. (Ref. 110622) On October 10th, the Ministry of...
Germany: IG-Metall Conference calls for “green new deal” and “new labor culture”
all union federation ended last Saturday with, notably, a speech from Chancellor Angela Merkel. The meeting was an opportunity to celebrate the newfound health of a union whose membership is going...
ArcelorMittal: Belgian unions want a European answer to the closing down of the Liège blast furnaces
ent of the largest steelmaker in the world confirmed its decision to close its blast furnaces in Liège, Belgium. Union organizations are looking for alternatives and request a true European...
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France: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 2025
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Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
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United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
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Germany: legal battle at Tesla ahead of works council election
The Frankfurt/Oder labour court has postponed a mid-November hearing in the case between the IG Metall union and Michaela Schmitz, employee representative and head of the works council at the...
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France: generative AI and older workers central to BPCE’s skills management strategy
On 17 July 2025, BPCE and its trade unions signed a second agreement on jobs and career management within the banking group. The text places generative artificial intelligence at the core of its...
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Candice Guillot (Talan): “Our recruiters save just over 80 hours per year on administrative tasks thanks to AI”
Candice Guillot, group director of employee experience and HR performance at Talan (7,000 employees), outlines for mind RH her vision and strategy for introducing artificial intelligence at the...