News

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...
Great Britain: law transposing temporary work directive postponed to October 2011
Help businesses recover from the economic crisis. The European directive on agency workers gives them more rights, including the right to equal pay with permanent workers after 12 weeks in a...
United States: agreement reached between Ford and the UAW
Wage freeze and no-strike provision. The management of the carmaker and the management of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have reached a new tentative agreement. Three key measures were approved: 
EU: joint declaration by the European Metalworkers’ Federation and the European Association of Automotive Suppliers on the future of the automotive industry
This statement is the result of a one-year project co-funded by the European Commission, studying good practices in the sector to adjust to change. “EMF and Clepa see the current situation in the...
Belgium: new banking sectoral agreement
The La CNE, SETca, LBC and CGSLB for unions and the Fedelfin for employers signed, on October 9, the 2009-10 banking sectoral agreement. Negotiations were held in May and September as part of the...
Italy: unions and employers in the temporary work sector agree on a single sectoral collective agreement
Single CCN. On October 9, Alleanza Lavoro signed with Assolavoro (Confindustria) and the Nidil CGIL, Alai Cisl and Uil CPO unions an agreement “restoring conventional unity” in the temporary work...
Germany: massive appeal to short-time working as an obstacle to businesses’ competitiveness
High “leftover costs.” An IAB study shows that, since the crisis began, businesses introduced short-time working requests for over 3.4 million employees. In June 2008, over 1.4 million German...
Portugal: outsourcing sector signs code of conduct
Competence, transparency and better working conditions. The signatories accepted to only commit for service contracts for which they are directly competent. They also adopted a confidentiality...
14 October 2009
United States: bill strengthens the fight against age discrimination
Three heavyweights of the democratic party presented a bill to improve American laws on age discrimination and against a four-month-old supreme court ruling. Tom Harkin, democratic Iowa senator...
Germany: company agreement on “the future” for ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel subsidiary
ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and its 4,500 employees were almost the victims of the major restructuring organized by ThyssenKrupp AG, the parent company (see our dispatch No. 090491). The latter, which...
Denmark: “ability assessment” replaces medical certificates to reduce absenteeism
Reduce the number of sick leaves. Since October 5, medical certificates have been replaced by “ability assessments” (mulighedserklæring). It is composed of two sheets, one filled by the employer...
Great Britain: Royal Mail employees vote yes to national strike
A strike to protest against job and service cuts. Two years after the last national postmen strike, a similar scenario is taking shape in the UK. “This is a huge vote of no confidence in Royal...
Netherlands: more flexible parental leave
More flexible parental leave. Piet Hein Donner, Minister for Social Affairs and Labor, wants to bring more flexibility into leaves for employees who want to care for sick children or parents...
Sweden: unions want equal pay between men and women to be a priority for the coming wage negotiations
Better compliance with anti-discrimination laws. Despite an internal study showing a relative improvement in women’s situation, the federation of private employees’ unions, Unionen, thinks that...
EU: European and international union federations sign a charter on “sustainable” tourism
The European Trade Union Liaison Committee on Tourism, ETLC – which gathers the EFFAT (European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism trade unions), ETF (European Transport Workers’...
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
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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