News

Sweden: employers and unions can’t agree on loosening the criteria used for selecting which workers are to be made redundant
On 04 September 2015, much to the surprise of all, the business leaders’ confederation, Svenskt Näringsliv announced that it was halting negotiations with the PTK (Swedish Federation of Salaried...
18 September 2015
Italy: negotiations to renew the metal sector national collective agreement are likely to prove difficult
On 16 September 2015, a central meeting convened by the Metals sector’s business leaders bodies: Federmecccanica and Assistal, to examine developments in the sector, set out a narrow framework for...
18 September 2015
Italy: the chemicals unions present their platform of demands for renewing the national collective agreement
On 15 September 2015, during their national assembly meeting, the Filctem-CGIL, Femca-Cisl, and Uiltec-Uil bodies and members approved a platform of demands for the renewal of the national...
16 September 2015
Canada: unions getting involved in the election campaign
Canada’s unions are gearing up in front of the country’s federal elections set for 19 October 2015. Press campaigns, strategic support for certain candidates, various members’ actions… all means...
16 September 2015
Germany: nine months after coming into force, the new national minimum age has led to an overall rise in salaries for the low paid, according to the DGB
In the presence of the Minister for Employment, Andrea Nahles who was attending a congress in Berlin under the heading “Is the minimum wage being applied everywhere?” the Confederation of German...
15 September 2015
Italy: unions mobilize to ensure national collective agreements are renewed in the tourism and retail sectors
Service industry unions are abuzz with activity. This week in the tourism sector unions continue with strike action across the territories demanding that their long expired (two years ago)...
15 September 2015
Japan: an amendment to the law on temporary work permanently adopted
New legislation permanently adopted on Friday 11 September removes an earlier three-year limit on the length of time companies could use temporary workers to carry out the same function. Going...
15 September 2015
Great Britain: yet another fall in legal proceedings being brought before the employment tribunals
According to the latest official data the number of cases being brought before the UK Employment Tribunals are becoming scarcer by the minute. Employment tribunals’ fees introduced by the Cameron...
15 September 2015
Denmark: a ruling by the arbitration committee should put employers off from using temporary employment contracts as a way of avoiding collective agreements
An industrial relations related preliminary ruling by the arbitration committee (Faglig Voldgift) has indicated that several consecutive work missions (even those that are very short) carried out...
14 September 2015
Portugal: new rules on parental leave reinforce paternal involvement and sanction discrimination against pregnant women
Portugal’s parental leave arrangements have just been bolstered with a set of new standards that were published on 01 September in the Official Journal (decree 120/2015). The new norms augment...
14 September 2015
Great Britain: left-wing and anti-establishment, Jeremy Corbyn is elected head of the Labour Party with a huge mandate from trade union members
Veteran left wing Labour MP, Jeremy Corbyn, swept to victory in the Labour Party leadership contest, with 60% of the votes. His right wing rivals were badly split, trailing far behind him. In his...
14 September 2015
Russia: the government is battling harder against a problem of drugs and alcohol at work
As part of the fight against addiction the government introduced legislative measures in July 2015 that allow employers to layoff employees either because they have been found guilty of the...
14 September 2015
Finland: government imposes measures to improve economic competitiveness
After two fruitless attempts by the social partners to agree, Finland’s government has announced its intention to adopt, in the upcoming weeks, significant legislative measures geared to lowering...
11 September 2015
France: former Congolese employees at Comilog, a subsidiary of French group Eramet secure compensation from the French courts for the breaches of contract
After a 23 year long legal battle, former Congolese employees at Comilog (La Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué, Ogooué Mining Company), a Gabon based subsidiary of French mining company Eramet...
11 September 2015
Netherlands: regional strikes in the metals sector continue with a national march planned for 25 September
Negotiations for renewed collective agreements in the metal sectors (both the metal & technical branches with 285,000 workers and the metal electro branches with 140,000 workers) started in...
11 September 2015
Italy: the “Growth from digital technology” project launched as part of the Youth Guarantee program will train tomorrow’s economic actors to be digital experts
On 09 September the Italian government in collaboration with Google and Unioncamere (the Union of the Chambers of Commerce) launched the “Growth from digital technology” project, which dispenses...
11 September 2015
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
Italy: Enel signs agreement to manage the effects of AI on work
An agreement signed at the end of July by the electricity company Enel (31,000 employees) and the unions Filctem-Cgil, Flaei-Cisl, and Uiltec is pioneering in the Italian energy sector. It aims to...
7 September 2026
2
France: Bayer puts female health and inclusive parenthood at the centre of its equality policy
In a new agreement on gender equality highlighted by mind RH, Bayer commits to strengthening its parenthood policy. Furthermore, the company is anticipating pay transparency and introducing...
25 September 2026
3
Germany: Volkswagen cancels almost all collective bargaining agreements signed with IG Metall
The Volkswagen brand announced on 30 September that it is terminating 10 of its 13 internal collective bargaining agreements, effective 31 December 2026. The announcement, which the carmaker...
1 October 2026
4
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026