News

Latin America: Mercosur unions summit presents “2010 fighting program”
On December 7 and 8, Montevideo, capital city of Uruguay, welcomed the 9th Mercosur union summit, an event traditionally organization in parallel to the meeting of Mercosur heads of States. Over...
Netherlands: new extension of short-time working
Under pressure from the Parliament (see our dispatch No. 090955), Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Piet Hein Donner finally accepted to extend short-time working (Deeltijd WW) again. On...
Italy: government presents “action program for the introduction of women into the labor market”
Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi and Minister for Equal Opportunities Mara Carfagna presented, on December 1st, the “action program for the introduction of women into the labor market.” Endowed...
EU: European Observatory on Cross Border Temporary Agency Work
Help workers and agencies. The European social partners in the temporary work sector signed, on December 4, an agreement establishing the European Observatory on Cross Border Temporary Agency...
Great Britain: unionized employees earn 12.5% more than their non-unionized colleagues, TUC says
The Union Advantage report published by TUC is aimed at encouraging employees to join a trade union. It also shows that it is also good for employers to facilitate union activity in their firm.
Germany: thirteenth month globally higher in 2009 than in 2008
After analyzing 23 major sectoral agreements, the WSI concluded that 2009’s 13th month should be much higher than in 2008. In concrete terms, these increases range between 1.5 and 7.3%, i.e...
Belgium: the extension of anticrisis measures revives the debate on the harmonization of blue-collar and white-collar statuses
Harmonizing blue-collar and white-collar workers’ statuses. This is an old awe-inspiring specter for Belgian social dialog, resurfacing with the economic crisis. After negotiations between the...
Germany: unions and temporary agencies want to stop wage dumping at the Schlecker hardware stores
“XL stores for XS wages.” In Bremen, Heidelberg, or many other cities in Germany, unhappy employees and sympathizing customers have been demonstrating against the new strategy of the Schlecker...
France: summary of the key measures of the law on lifelong vocational guidance and training
Portability of individual training rights. In all cases where the termination of the labor contract isn’t justified by gross misconduct, and entitles to unemployment insurance, employees who...
Great Britain: government measures to cope with the shortage of skilled workers in engineering construction
Talent shortage. In February 2009, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) asked Mark Gibson, former director general of this department, to draw a report on productivity and...
Canada: Supreme Court validates Wal-Mart’s decision to close a store where a union gained following
“No legislation obliges any employer to remain in business.” On November 27, the supreme court of Canada has upheld the right of Wal-Mart’s management to shut down one of its stores in Quebec, in...
Italy: Fiat confirms automotive production halt in Sicilian plant
Twenty days to find a solution. Confirming the decision to stop automotive production in 2011 in the Termini Imerese plant, Fiat’s managing director, Sergio Marchionne declared that “the...
EU: the Council recommends Member States to improve workers’ protection against the tobacco smoke
Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia abstained from voting. The recommendation is based, almost word for word, on the text proposed by the European Commission on June 30 (see our dispatch...
Austria: trade partners agree on wage increases between 1.5 and 1.8%
When presenting the terms of the wage agreement negotiated for the 570,000 workers in trade (including wholesale pharmaceutical trade), Manfred Wolf, negotiator for the GPA union, is mostly happy...
Romania : the authorities struggle to reduce the importance of the underground economy
Planet Labor, December 3, 2009, No. 091099 – www.planetlabor.com 
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: Yves Rocher convicted of breach of duty of vigilance for infringement of freedom of association
The specialised chamber of the Paris Judicial Court convicted Yves Rocher on 12 March for breaching its duty of vigilance. The group was sued by Turkish employees dismissed in 2018 by a subsidiary...
12 March 2026
2
Spain: business support package to tackle the economic impact of the Middle East conflict
The Spanish government approved a series of measures on 20 March to support companies facing rising energy prices. In return, these businesses are prohibited from making redundancies for economic...
23 March 2026
3
EU: Council adopts position on simplifying AI rules
The Council of the EU approved its position on 13 March regarding the “omnibus regulation” proposal, published last November by the Commission to simplify the AI Act. Confirming the...
20 March 2026
4
Germany: a corporate group supports local political engagement via its “Democracy Charter”
Large corporations in the Hesse region, surrounding Frankfurt, are defending local democracy by enabling employees to volunteer in local public life through an initiative dubbed the "Democracy...
11 March 2026
5
United States: Coca-Cola subsidiary sued by the administration over women-only event
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on 18 February that it is launching federal proceedings against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast for “sex-based...
6 March 2026