13 March 2019
On the menu: Resolution to the dispute between the Yves Rocher Turkey subsidiary and the IndustriALL Global backed Petrol-Is union, Consumer legislation offers only weak leverage in the area of CSR, public sector contracts to prioritize ‘ethical’ employers in the UK, collective agreements renewed for FCA, CNH, and Ferrari and Ducati, downbeat start to 2019 for auto-sector jobs in Argentina.
16 January 2019
In the evening of 15 January, UK PM Theresa May’s Brexit deal was overwhelmingly defeated by parliament with 432 MPs voting against and just 202 voting in favor. This crushing defeat is the largest in the country since the 1920s. So what can we expect in the next episode of this long-running Brexit show? No deal? A new deal? An early general election? Brexit cancelled? Below is a list of the possibilities:
4 April 2018
On the menu : in Germany, major retailer Real quits the employer’s body in order to cease dealing with the services union Verdi, roughly 1,500 UK companies have missed the midnight 04 April deadline to publish their gender pay gap data, 2.76% rise for the banking sector in Austria, an agreement at Embraco subsidiary (Italy) of Whirlpool that had caused an outcry when it announced the business was to relocate to Slovakia.
22 March 2016
With the desire to ‘Change Europe’, thanks to stronger unions with increased negotiations influence, UNI Europa gathered its members together for a three-day conference, held in Rome from the 14th to the 16th of March 2016, to set out a strategic framework for the next four years. Unions’ strengthened capacity to attract members and to negotiate, using levers including union alliances, European Works Councils, and transnational company agreements came to the fore. In terms of transnational company...
5 June 2015
After its tribunal challenge to the January 2104 agreement on union representation was rejected, and despite its continued opposition, the confederation of autonomous unions, the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) has announced its decision to sign the agreement. After what has been more than a year of mobilization this ‘capitulation’ is, for the union, the only way to continue...
3 June 2015
The U.S. Supreme Court has just sided with a young Muslim female who took the Abercrombie & Fitch clothing chain to court for religious discrimination. The almost unanimous vote by the judges ruled that it was for the company to find out if the female candidate for the job had any specific clothing requirements and determine what arrangements could be made to accommodate her hiring as soon as they had the slightest inkling that such measures would be necessary.
12 May 2015
On April 29 an agreement was signed between the LO confederation and the employers’ body Almega Bemmanningsföretagen (staffing agency employers federation). The one-year agreement covering some 30,000 workers sees to the continuance of the winning Swedish model that combines security and flexibility while enabling industry to be competitive and to maintain quality employment.
30 January 2015
Japan’s traditional annual pay negotiations (Shunto) started on January 29. The main union confederation, Rengo has demanded a minimum 2% rise in salaries for 2015. Against a backdrop of 20 years of rock bottom purchasing power this “rise in salaries is all the more essential for workers to maintain their standard of living”, argues the union. In an economy where the lack of manpower is starting to hit home, observers announce significant wage rises for 2015. National negotiations however only apply to just...
8 December 2014
The 1984 Union law requires unions to ballot their members if they want to continue maintaining their political funds (that can be used to provide financial support for political parties) for a further 10 year term (see article n°8377). Given the political backdrop, with the general election to be held in 2015, and unions hoping for change, all the unions voted once again for the maintenance of these funds.
25 September 2014
After intense negotiations, the social partners agreed a rise in the national minimum wage (SMN). As of October 1, 2014 it will go up from 485 euros to 505 euros per month. To ease the financial burden on Portugal’s businesses, the government has lowered their social security contributions on workers receiving the minimum wage (TSU) by 0.75%. On this basis, the CCP union (Confederation of Trade and Services) accepted this rise in the minimum wage, which had been frozen since 2011. The CGTP union refused to...
