News

Great Britain: government wants to remove default retirement age
While default retirement age should be revised in 2010 (see our dispatch No. 090737), the government decided to speed the process up and called on employers in large businesses to give an...
Lithuania: minority unions revolt against the future national Pact
Minority unions’ discontent with the agreement… While the main unions (Confederation of Lithuanian Unions, Solidarumas, Labor Federation) don’t deny that they will soon sign, with the government...
Italy: focus on agreements between regions and unions to face the crisis
Regions’ effort against the crisis. Agreements concluded between Italian regions and the social partners since the beginning of the year allowed “completing, extending and gauge” about anti-crisis...
Sweden: government wants to make funded pensions fairer
The reform proposed by the government affects the part of the Swedish pension system, mostly made up of “notional accounts.” A residual part (5% of contributions) is made up of a capitalization...
20 October 2009
Netherlands: Parliament extends short-time working after January 1, 2010
Originally, Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Piet Hein Donner wanted to decide after January 1, 2010 about a possible extension of short-time working (Deeltijd WW). Parliament decided...
Italy: home stretch before the creation of a big chemistry, energy and textile federation within the CGIL
Planned merger. Ratified at the last CGIL congress in 2006, the merger of the Filcem (chemistry) and Filtea (textile) was slowed down by efforts against the crisis and the separate agreement on...
Germany: open strike in industrial cleaning
For a global 8.7% wage increase. An IG BAU spokesman told Planet Labor that the strike won’t take place at the same time or in all businesses, it will be “flexible and unpredictable.” It will...
Ireland: unions maintain pressure to enforce the wage agreement
Wage cut. Today, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, the Irish government will meet with the social partners for an informal meeting. The revival of negotiations on the national social pact for 2016...
Spain: the works council of Opel’s Figueruelas site rejects Magna’s plan and calls for a strike
The El Periodico daily in Aragon pointed out that 25,000 direct or indirect jobs depend on Opel Spain and launched a campaign entitled “For employment at Opel.” It says that the Spanish site...
Spain: metalworkers call for a strike on October 28
Sectoral consequence of the national fracture in social dialog. This call is the implementation of the strategy unions designed last summer after social dialog attempts failed and after they...
Netherlands: coalition in power presents pension reform
Gradual increase of retirement age. On October 16, the Christian Democrats and the Labor Party, in power, reached a compromise on the increase in retirement age. It will go from 65 to 66 in 2020...
Italy: separate agreement for the renewal of the metalworking collective agreement
“One of the smoothest agreements in history.” This is how Roberto Santarelli, Federmeccanica’s chair, qualified the separate agreement for the renewal of the metalworking CCN, signed on October 15...
Great Britain: two-day national strike in postal sector
Mail will be totally blocked for several days. The CWU said that it made an offer to Royal Mail’s management, which the latter rejected without even looking into it. The company said the strike...
Portugal: two large employers’ associations merge to be more representative
Already contemplated in the past but never carried out, the merger between the AEP and AIP answers the need for organizational modernization and the “current national and international economic...
GDF Suez: EWC members elect a Belgian member as their secretary
On October 13, during the first meeting of GDF Suez’s EWC, recently created (see our dispatch No. 090489), the structure’s staff representatives elected a Belgian representative as secretary. His...
Spain: unions and Magna failed to reach an agreement on the future of Opel’s Figueruelas site
While the Unite British union concluded an agreement with Magna to maintain the Luton and Ellesmere sites operational with no major job cuts, Spanish unions are still trying to bargain with magna...
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
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What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Pascale Rauline (Axa EWC): “European charter formalises ongoing and accelerated social dialogue on AI”
On 27 November, Axa and its European works council (EWC) signed a charter setting out principles governing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteeing social dialogue on the...
2
Germany: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
3
Bulgaria: government approves bill to encourage sector-level collective bargaining
On 26 November, the Bulgarian government approved amendments to the labour code designed to reinforce the legal framework for sector-level collective bargaining. The reform aims to stimulate...
2 December 2025
4
EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
5
Germany: Erwin Hymer Group’s innovative and award-winning AI agreement
Fed up with negotiating separate agreements for each new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the social partners at Erwin Hymer Group (8,900 employees) have instead secured a broad, overarching...
12 December 2025
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France: Orange submits gender equality agreement – including AI provisions – for union approval
The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...