News

Sweden: employers and union confederations reveal their goals before the renewal of many collective agreements in 2010
Unions don’t want employees to “pay” anymore. The current context isn’t very prone to unions. Since the economic crisis began, they already had to make numerous sacrifices, like Scania’s employees...
Netherlands: fewer layoffs settled at court
From 75,000 in 2003, the number of layoffs challenged in court went down to less than 21,000 in 2008, in spite of the crisis. Indeed, according to the study commissioned by the Ministry of...
Denmark: historical ruling on equal pay
“Historical victory for equal pay.” This is how Gita Gruning, leader of the Teknisk Landsforbund union (technicians and designers), qualified the decree rendered on September 24 by the Danish...
EU: MEPs remove their proposition to include self-employed drivers into the scope of the working time directive for truck drivers
The wind has turned within the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. MEPs finally rejected the report recommending the extension of the 2002 directive on adjusting...
Germany: IG-Metall says the crisis and environmental turn compel to rethink metalworkers’ working time
Massive and durable decline in employment load. “We have to find new working time schemes allowing a) to answer individual flexibility needs and b) to take account of workers’ wage situation” the...
Daimler: official launching of Gl@d, the network of gay employees of the German carmaker
40 employees create GL@D against discrimination. Johanna Kosler and Jorg Sikorski, employees at Daimler, initiated the Gl@d network with the support of the Diversity Management department. In a...
29 September 2009
Spain: agreement at Renault to maintain Spanish sites
Wage freeze and mobility in exchange for new models. The draft agreement of the “Pact for Employment and Competitiveness at Renault Spain” was signed by the management and the UGT, CCOO and CCP...
Unicredit: global union alliance within the group
Improved cooperation. Last week, 13 national unions and the members of Unicredit’s EWC launched a global union alliance. In a communiqué, UNI Finance said that the rapid integration of European...
Italy: the pilot project to support temps affected by the crisis was successful
Promising results. On September 24 Labor Undersecretary Pasquale Viespoli presented the first results of the pilot project to support temps who aren’t entitled to social dampers. In Italy, the...
EU: European trade unions in favor of a revision of the law on the protection of workers from electromagnetic fields
Take account of scientific progress. European staff representatives answered yes to the consultation launched by the European Commission shortly before the summer (see our dispatch No. 090796) on...
Germany: for the first time, Volkswagen’s collective agreement includes a variable wage component based on performance
Towards more flexible wages. Disappointed that the group’s management refused claims accepted by Audi and Porsche, the IG-Metall threatened, last week, with launching warning strikes (see our...
Sweden: end of State pharmaceutical monopoly and first controversial collective agreement
Two agreements to regulate this “new” sector. The entire drugstore network, which used to be controlled by Apoteket AB (State owned), was dismantled on July 1, 2009. The State sold 150 pharmacies...
EU: staff representatives involved in the future financial supervision system
Three advisory groups. The day before the G20 summit, the European Commission tried to bring its two cents to the global financial regulation structure by improving coordination of supervisory...
Germany: industrial cleaning employers’ federation blocks the renewal of sectoral minimum wage
The minimum wage agreement negotiated in 2008 by the social partners in industrial cleaning will expire on September 30, 2009. Yet, the sector's employers completely reject unions' claim - a...
Chile: collective bargaining reform postponed to 2010
Employment and economic recovery override labor law reform. After disagreements within the government coalition (composed of four parties), Chilean President Michelle Bachelet decided to suspend...
Great Britain: consultation on employees’ auto-enrolment to their company’s professional pension fund
Auto-enrolment. What is it? Angela Eagle, Minister for Pensions and the Ageing Society, explained: “These landmark reforms, on a scale unprecedented anywhere in the world, will ensure millions of...
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
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
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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
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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...