News

Italy: CGIL announces 1 million participants to its March 12 general strike
Noting a four-hour strike in the private sector and an eight-hour strike in the public sector, on Friday, March 12, “exceeded its expectations,” the CGIL announced that one million people took...
Corporate practices: AstraZeneca’s policy for preventing illnesses and accidents banks on one-on-one coaching
The company’s motives. The department in charge of production for AstraZeneca in Sweden was worried about the increased number of accidents and occupational diseases on the sites. The problem was...
15 March 2010
Belgium: productivity bonuses taking hold in businesses
Heterogeneous award of the bonuses. To motivate their collaborators, businesses increasingly appeal to the system of “non-recurring productivity-based incentives” – the official name given to the...
Netherlands: extension of short-time working in exchange for wage moderation
On March 11, Piet Hein Donner, Minister for Social Affairs and Labor, met with the social partners to propose the following agreement: extending short-time working (Deeltijd WV-v, see our dispatch...
Italy: social partners sign joint opinion on arbitration following reactions to the decree-law reforming labor disputes
On march 11th, at the Ministry of Labor, all the social partners except the CGIL signed a joint opinion on arbitration, easier to appeal to with the decree-law recently passed by the Senate (see...
Spain: GM and Opel’s unions reach an agreement
This outline agreement was concluded on the night of March 11th, after a marathon 10-hour meeting supervised by the regional administration of Aragon. This agreement should celebrate the end of...
Germany: Federal Labor Court establishes the principle of equal treatment regarding corporate supplementary pension schemes
Abolishing status differences between employees. By giving satisfaction to a retired worker from Ford Deutschland, the BAG’s ruling (Ref. 3 AZR 216/09) clearly established equal treatment...
Denmark: new CCN in the building sector provides for various means to fight against social dumping
The managing director of the Dansk Byggeri employers’ association, Lars Storr-Hansen, emphasized that the agreement for the renewal of the building sector’s CCN, was signed on Friday, March 5th...
Italy: 15th national Uil union congress announces a “reformist future”
Between March 2 and march 4, the trade union held, in Rome, its 15th national congress under the watchword: “Uil, a reformist future.” On March 5th, it celebrated its 60th birthday. Over 1,200...
Germany: IG BCE chemistry union demands a higher wage increase than that secured for metalworkers
Very differentiated situation. This is the third large collective bargaining round this year, after metalworking and electrical engineering (see our dispatch No. 100156) and the civil service (see...
Areva, Alstom/Schneider Electric: European negotiation on social guarantees in the framework of the sale of Areva T&D
Social guarantees for T&D employees. The European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) received a unanimous mandate from its members present in the three companies affected by the operation. Thus...
EU: pending signature of the draft cross-industry agreement on inclusive labor markets
This framework agreement is “based on the principle that ensuring inclusive labor markets implies shared responsibilities of employers, individuals, workers, workers’ and employers’...
Germany: union competition in the temporary sector leads to a high pay raise for employees
Union race. In fact, the BZA employers’ organization announced, on January 26, 2010, that it signed a collective agreement with the DGB for the approximately 200,000 employees of the BZA’s member...
Corporate practices: Pekkaniska, large Finnish lifting company, is paying employees to improve their health
Unions view the implementation of policies aimed to significantly improve quality of life at work as a necessary requirement for a possible agreement on the extension of careers. However, even...
10 March 2010
Poland: union and employers’ organizations are “renewing” their representativeness
Proven representativeness. Initially, the founding text for union representativeness – Act of July 6, 2001 regarding the tripartite committee and regional social dialog committees – recognized as...
Great Britain: Royal Mail unions and management sign an agreement on the company’s modernization
Voluntary leaves. After weeks of conflict, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), stepped in, in November, to act as a mediator between Royal Mail and the CWU (see our dispatch...
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
Catherine Chavanier (CDC Habitat): “Social dialogue on AI facilitates its deployment”
In February, CDC Habitat (10,500 employees) signed a two-year framework agreement governing social dialogue on AI. Catherine Chavanier, HR Director of the subsidiary of CDC (Caisse des dépôts et...
2
Greece: hospitality sector signs first collective agreement aligned with National Social Pact
The hospitality sector (125,000 employees), one of Greece’s largest industries after retail, signed a new two-year collective agreement on 17 March. The text, effective from 1 April 2026...
3
France: La Poste to launch negotiations for an AI agreement
Following the lead of firms such as Axa, Syensqo globally, and more recently CDC Habitat, La Poste group management will open negotiations on an AI regulation agreement during the first half of...
4
France: Club Med includes “multiculturalism” in its professional equality agreement
In December 2025, Club Med and the CFTC, Unsa, and FO trade unions signed an agreement on professional equality and working conditions. It introduces measures addressing AI, pay transparency, and...
23 March 2026
5
France: bioMérieux’s new disability agreement pivots towards mental health
The news. On 6 January 2026, bioMérieux—an in vitro diagnostics specialist employing 4,400 people in France—signed a new four-year agreement “relating to the employment...
6
Germany: a wave of redundancy plans in the automotive sector
The latest financial results presented in early 2026 by major German car manufacturers show sharp declines. This collapse in profits has triggered the announcement or confirmation of massive job...
16 March 2026