News

EU: the Twenty-Seven talk about mobility and working time
Open labor markets to eastern European workers. This is one of the EU Presidency’s priorities for this semester: remove obstacles to workers’ mobility within the Union. This first concerns...
Sweden: a commission delivers proposals to the government to safeguard the specific role of trade unions with regard to EU requirements
Proposals made by the Swedish commission. The commission first acknowledged that the trade unions had gone too far in the Laval case, as their action was motivated not by Laval’s refusal to adhere...
Spain: UGT union demands control of mass layoffs in businesses making profit
According to a study published by the technical cabinet of the UGT union, the number of employees concerned by employment reduction procedures (EREs) - partial, temporary or permanent - increased...
Germany: the Bundestag ratifies the law on employees’ capital interest
More tax aids for employees. To improve employees’ access to the companies’ capital, the new law provides for the creation of investment funds to which employers and employees may contribute...
Germany: the IG BAU, the building union, demands a 6% wage increase
Full order books. The order books of the sector’s companies are full until at least mid-2009. In addition, they should benefit from the €50 billion recovery plan presented in mid-January by the...
Netherlands: sharp drop in the bonuses of bosses and CEO’s of listed firms
The lot of these bosses is nonetheless enviable, considers this newspaper. The average salary of a company chief has a fixed part of € 1 million  with an annual maximum bonus of € 1 million  and a...
Germany: IG Metall stabilizes its members
In 2008, for the first time in 15 years, the IG Metall, the largest union in Germany with 2.3 million members, put a temporary end to the erosion of its strength. According to an assessment...
Italy: collective bargaining reformed
A "historical" agreement on the reform of the unique conventional system for the private and the public sector was signed on January 22, 2009 in Rome between the government and the social...
Portugal: new Labor Code adopted after the plan to extend the try-out period was abandoned
On January 21, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the draft revision of the Labor Code. This review of a text adopted on November 7, 2008 follows the decision of the Constitutional Court (see our...
SAS: the airline signed an agreement with unions to reduce costs
On January 11, 2009, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which has two head offices, one in Sweden and one in Denmark, signed an agreement with its unions on a new collective agreement to help the...
Spain: Competitiveness Plan to help auto businesses face downturn
Planet Labor, January 23, 2009, No. 090075 – www.planetlabor.com
EU: the CJEC opposed to the loss of paid annual leave in the case of absence for illness
The ruling rendered on January 19, 2009 by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) is in keeping with the case law interpreting Directive 2003/88 on the organization of working...
Brazil: one in three businesses prepares layoffs for the beginning of the year
Cutting short rumors and assessments from independent sources, the Brazilian Ministry of Labor finally recognized that a record in terms of job cuts was reached at the end of 2008. According to...
EU: the CJEC will have to determine whether individual employees can object to the non-respect of the information and consultation procedure
A more fundamental question concerns the nature of the right of information and consultation. Directive 98/59 on collective redundancies imposes a series of obligations on the employer in terms...
Germany: Lufthansa prepares for warning strikes
After breaking off, on January 16, 2009, the 3rd negotiation round with Lufthansa, the independent flight attendants' union, Ufo (Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation e. V.), warned that it was...
Portugal: unions hit by the crisis too
Portuguese unions are directly hit by the crisis because of its impact on employees' contributions. The CGTP (General Confederation of Workers, the largest union in Portugal) is expecting a 1.9%...
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
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...
3
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...
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