ABSTRACT
Industrial relations, a significant component of civil society, weigh heavily on the settlement of social conflict, the achievement of consensus, economic modernization, and the legitimacy and stability of democracy. Trade unions, regardless of their structure, are established to defend the interests of workers at the work site and in the larger social, economic, and political realms. One of the most important activities of the Member States' industrial relations systems is wage bargaining. The collective bargaining process has an important role in determining employees' salaries. Payment mechanisms are somewhat different for the self-employed nurse. In France, these practitioners are paid directly by the client on a fee-for-service basis. Pension rights, like social security, had to be protected, if nurses and other workers were to become part of the mobile society and move within the confines of the European Union (EU). Coordination of social security pension schemes allows mobile workers to maintain their accrued statutory pension benefits.
