18 January 2021
On 15 December 2020, the management of the Belgian chemicals firm Solvay and its global staff representation body, the Solvay Global Forum (see article n°10248), revised their first global agreement on the minimum levels of protection for employees in terms of welfare and healthcare, signed on 22 February 2017 (see article n°10083), in order to extend parental leave (mothers, fathers, co-parents and adoptive parents) to 16 weeks.
4 January 2021
Following the announcement of a strategic transformation and digitalisation plan, the management of Inditex, the parent company of the prêt-à-porter brands Zara and Pull & Bear, revealed that it had already committed in June to preserving jobs despite the closure of shops that its strategy entails. A joint statement issued on 21 December by Inditex and the EWC details the commitment made by the management as well as the approach adopted: “A process has been launched, together with trade union...
18 December 2020
The team at Planet Labor would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your loyal readership and to wish you a joyful and peaceful end-of-year. We look forward to re-opening the site on 04 January 2021.
15 December 2020
The CAC (Central Arbitration Committee), which oversees the regulation of UK labour law as it relates to industrial relations matters, issued two decisions in late November and early December connected with the US IT multinational HPE’s (Hewlett Packard Enterprises) global business transformation project. These decisions concern the subsidiary requirements from the European Works Council Directive (2009/38/EC), as detailed and transposed into UK law by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees...
9 December 2020
Upon the closure of European Hospitality Sector social dialogue committee meeting held in November, EFFAT, the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions, and HOTREC, the umbrella association of Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés & similar establishments in Europe, together issued a joint statement calling on European Institutions and Member States to support the...
9 December 2020
On 01 December a joint declaration was signed by the World Employment Confederation-Europe (employers) and UNI-Europa (trade unions), and concluded a two-year project on social innovation in the temporary agency work sector. This declaration sets out specific recommendations on social protection and training in the temporary agency work sector. The recommendations in the declaration...
8 December 2020
On 30 November, the European telecommunications sector’s social partners (ETNO – employers & Uni Europa trade unions) signed a Joint Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, which emphasizes the importance of social dialogue for AI design and deployment, and in particular for issues such as data collection and management, as well as developing ethical AI.
8 December 2020
In their 09 November joint position on “The impact of digitalisation on the world of work in the MET industries”, the European social partners in the metal, engineering, and technology-based sector (Ceemet {European Tech & Industry Employers} IndustriAll Europe {trade unions}) identify four areas in which social dialogue is necessary to ensure that technological change...
4 December 2020
On 18 November, Thomas Buberl, chief executive of French insurance group Axa, and Hedi Ben Sedrine, secretary of the Axa European Works Council, signed a charter on the group’s global health and well-being programme. The charter is set to take effect from 1 January 2021 and will enable every staff member, if they so wish, to receive a medical check-up every two years. The signing of the charter means the group’s EWC will be involved in the programme’s implementation, across all the group’s entities, as...
19 November 2020
According to Lando Maria Sileoni, Secretary General of FABI (autonomous federation of Italian bank workers) “UniCredit should share the guidelines on work for Italy with the Italian trade unions and nobody else. The process must be the exact opposite of what the bank has indicated via the joint declaration it signed with the European Works Council”. The agreement defines principles and minimum standards on remote work in all countries where the group has a presence (c.f. article N° 12193). “The...
