News

Germany: social partners in chemicals sector introduce first supplementary dependency insurance scheme as well as an ‘account for the future’
On Friday 22 November, the German trade union for mining, chemicals and energy – IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie – and the country’s federation of chemicals sector employers – BAVC – signed a branch...
25 November 2019
EU: union organisation UNI Europa Finance sets out roadmap for 2019-2023
At the UNI Europa Finance Conference, held on 22 October in Torremolinos, Spain, finance sector union leaders adopted a resolution on the organisation’s strategic planning framework for up to the...
25 November 2019
United Kingdom: when companies move to break the taboo of menopause
From banking group HSBC to supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and professional services group PwC, more and more UK companies are now talking about the sensitive topic of menopause and the need to put...
22 November 2019
Spain: trade unions call for protests after court deems dismissal for repeated absences from work, even though they were justified, as acceptable
The CCOO and UGT unions have called for protest action on 27 November over a ruling from the Constitutional Court of Spain, which deemed the dismissal of a female employee over repeated sick leave...
22 November 2019
United States: several union leaders at United Automobile Workers accused of corruption
Two big bombshells in Detroit. Gary Jones, president of the United Automobile Workers union, has resigned from his role, while automobile manufacturing group General Motors has filed a lawsuit...
22 November 2019
Germany : Verdi service union critical of Zalando employee monitoring and digital ranking system
A new dispute has erupted between the services union, Verdi, and Europe’s largest online retailer, Zalando. A study published on 20 November and commissioned by the union-friendly Hans-Böckler...
21 November 2019
EU: 5th EFFAT Congress held in Croatian capital Zagreb on 06 /07 November under the banner: ‘Organise, Fight and Win: A recipe for a stronger EFFAT’
‘EFFAT is standing at a crossroads.’ This opening statement from the EFFAT ( European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism) Action Plan that was adopted in Congress preceded a list of...
20 November 2019
France: legal adoption of a first set of obligations on platforms employing drivers and riders
On 19 November the framework law on mobility was definitively adopted. This piece of structuring legislation seeks especially to develop new mobility solutions and reduce the environmental...
20 November 2019
ACT: freedom of association guideline adopted by Myanmar textiles industry
On 13 November 2019, after eight months of negotiations, and along with the IndustriALL affiliate, Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), garment and textiles factories in Myanmar...
19 November 2019
South Korea: trade unions make inroads into Samsung Electronics
For the first time in fifty years a labor union affiliated with the South Korean umbrella union group, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), has established a presence at the Samsung...
19 November 2019
OECD advocates for stronger collective bargaining in the digital age
In Berlin on 18 November and presenting the OECD’s latest report on collective bargaining entitles: Negotiating Our Way Up: Collective Bargaining in a Changing World of Work, Stefano Scarpetta...
19 November 2019
Germany: Verdi and ING-DiBa strike deal on ‘agreement for the future’, which introduces an individual training allowance
German labour union Verdi and the management of German bank ING-DiBa struck an agreement at the start of November to renew their collective agreement ‘for the future’ (Zukunftsvertrag), which is...
18 November 2019
France: how Coca-Cola European Partners France relaunched and rebuilt social dialogue to support its new business plan
With production volumes on the decline, a transformation of the French market, three redundancy plans in five years, CCEP France – which produces, bottles and markets Coca-Cola in France – has...
18 November 2019
EU: final adoption of directive on cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions
Today the Council of the European Union finalised the adoption of the directive that seeks to facilitate the “mobility” of companies within the European area, while guaranteeing the rights of...
18 November 2019
Portugal: monthly minimum wage to rise by 35 euros
The Portuguese council of ministers, the executive body within the country’s government, have approved a 35-euro increase to the national monthly minimum wage, which will take effect from 1...
15 November 2019
Italy: Milanese retail sector social partners agree on more flexible rules for recourse to temporary employment contracts
On 06 November, the territorial agreement called ‘Milan a tourist city’ (Milano città turistica) was signed. It allows more workers to be hired on temporary employment contracts during certain...
15 November 2019
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: 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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Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
4
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...
5
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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Carrefour and UNI Global Union renew global agreement on promoting social dialogue and diversity
On 17 October, Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retailers, with nearly 500,000 employees worldwide, and global union federation UNI Global Union renewed their global agreement on...