News

EU: the European Commission walks on thin ice with flexicurity
Several fairies leaned on the development of the communication on "towards common principles of flexicurity,", which should be adopted on June 27, 2007. The initial plan was subjected to many...
Italy: against Nokia Siemens Network’s restructuring plan, strikes follow strikes in the group’s facilities
Following last month's mobilizations to stop the German-Finnish multinational company's restructuring plan which plans layoffs and shutdowns in the country, the three main metalworkers' unions...
Spain: the decrease in wages’ weight in the GDP is causing much gnashing of unions’ teeth
In 10 years, it went from 49 to 46.6% (as opposed to 64% in average in the Euro zone). Despite the official continuation of the wage moderation policy, unions are getting ready to enter a new...
EU: the Commission approved the aids given by the European globalization adjustment fund (EGF) to PSA and Renault’s subcontractors
The European Commission announced yesterday, June 25, 2007, that it gave its consent to the grant of aids coming from the European globalization adjustement (EGF) to the subcontractors of PSA...
Great Britain: one manager out of three cares little about health at work
British employers were highly criticized in a recent study for the neglect in terms of their employees' health and well-being on their workplace. (Ref. 070567)
Austria: companies’ good results and the fall of unemployment made labour costs and wage levels rise again.
According to the Austrian statistics office (Statistik Austria), labour cost in Austria increased faster than expected in the first trimester of 2007, in a context of important unemployment...
Great Britain: government and employers signed a pact to train the less qualified employees
The British Ministry of Labour and Pensions launched a pact in favour of training towards companies. Recommended in December 2006 by Lord Leitch (see our story 061233) in a report which had...
Italy: strong railroaders’ mobilization for the renewal of the collective contract and against a privatization “the Italian way” of railroads
8 railroaders out of 10 took part in the national strike on June 22 in favour of a collective contract enforceable to all of the sector's companies, in order to fight against social dumping, and...
Spain: banking managers and unions signed a new sectorial agreement.
The Spanish banking association (AEB), the sector's employers' representation body, negotiated with majority unions Comfia-CCOO (49.52%) FES-UGT (31.06%) and FESBIAC-CGT (12.23%), the 21st...
EU: the Commission wants to fight the wage gap between men and women
The European Commission should soon publish its communication about the wage gap between men and women. While taking into account this gap's reasons, the communication should propose reflection...
Great Britain: towards the first strike in eleven years at Royal Mail
After several weeks' negotiations, postal workers announced that they intended to go on a 24-hour strike this week, which is a first at Royal Mail for eleven years. The conflict is about wage...
Germany: the corporate governance code limited to two years the period to calculate the benefits paid to managers
Gathered on June 14, 2007, the governmental commission on good governance adopted several measures, including the limitation of executives' retirement benefits, the appointment modalities for the...
22 June 2007
Germany: Allianz’s management agreed with the works council on the modalities of a restructuring plan which is advancing faster than expected
Engaged in a large operation to reinstate its staff (see our article 070515), Allianz finally agreed with its European works council to restart the operation of job exchange as early as July. On...
Germany: the federal Labour Court confirmed that “solidarity strikes” are legal
In a ruling published on June 19, 2007, the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht - BAG) confirmed that solidarity strikes led in a sector indirectly concerned by collective conventions...
Thomson: free share handing out to the group’s employees
The French group Thomson decided, on June 21, 2007, to carry out a free distribution of shares in favour of all of Thomson's employees on June 1, 2007, as well as employees from its involved...
22 June 2007
EU: European social partners are drawing the balance on the enforcement of the voluntary agreement on stress
During the social dialogue committee's meeting, on June 20, European social partners adopted a second balance on the enforcement of the voluntary agreement on stress signed in October 2004 (on...
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
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
4
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...