OUT-OF-WORK BENEFITS.
The out-of-work benefit, of prime importance among English trade unions,
has made little headway in America either as a national or even as a
local trade-union benefit. In 1905 the amount expended for out-of-work
benefits could not well have exceeded eighty thousand dollars, and of
this sum a considerable part was spent by the Amalgamated Carpenters, a
British trade union with branches in the United States. Certainly less
than one half of one per cent. of the expenditures of American national
unions, and less than one per cent. of their expenditures for
beneficiary purposes, is for out-of-work relief. In the one hundred
principal English trade unions twenty-one per cent. of the total
expenditure in the ten years from 1892 to 1901 was for out-of-work
benefits. Of the sum spent by the same unions for benefits of all kinds
(not including strike pay) about one third was for out-of-work
benefits.[155]
[Footnote 155: Weyl, "Benefit Features of British Trade Unions" in
Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 64, p. 722.]
Relief to the unemployed member has assumed in American unions three
forms: (_a_) an out-of-work benefit of a fixed amount per week in money,
(_b_) exemption of unemployed members from weekly or monthly dues, and
(_c_) a loan or benefit sufficient to transport the unemployed member in
search of employment. The first and second of these are ordinarily known
as out-of-work benefits, while the third is known as a travelling
benefit.
The unions that pay a money benefit are the Cigar Makers, the
Typographia, the Coal Hoisting Engineers, and the Jewelry Workers.[156]
The Cigar Makers' Union is still the only American trade union of
considerable membership which maintains a system of out-of-work benefits
under which unemployed members receive a weekly money benefit. On
October 11, 1875, the New York branch of the Cigar Makers' Union formed
an out-of-work benefit and became from that time the steady advocate of
a national system. As early as 1876 the New York Union proposed a plan
to the International Convention, modelled upon the system in operation
in the local union, under which a member was entitled to receive aid for
a term of three weeks, beginning with the second week of
unemployment.[157] This proposal failed of adoption; but the
International Convention agreed that sick members should have their
cards receipted by the out-of-work seal. Proposals for the establishment
of a money out-of-work benefit were made in 1877 and in 1879 at
conventions of the Union. Although International President Hurst
endorsed the idea in 1876 and recommended that it be placed before the
local unions for consideration, the International Convention voted
adversely. A substitute, proposed by Mr. Gompers, was adopted in 1879.
This provided that every subordinate union should establish a labor
bureau for the purpose of securing work for unemployed members.[158] The
compromise was by no means satisfactory, and suggestions continued to be
made for the establishment of a national out-of-work benefit.[159]
[Footnote 156: The Amalgamated Carpenters, an English union which had in
1902 forty-four branches with 3307 members in the United States, also
pay an out-of-work benefit.]
[Footnote 157: Journal, Vol. 1, September, 1876, p. 1.]
[Footnote 158: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 2, April, 1877, p. 2; Vol. 3,
October, 1877, p. 3; Vol. 5, September, 1879, p. 3.]
[Footnote 159: _Ibid_., Vol. 8, September, 1883, p. 9; Vol. 11, October,
1885, p. 6; Vol. 13, July, 1888, p. 7; Vol. 14, December, 1888, p. 3;
Vol. 15, October, 1889, pp. 17-18; Constitution, amended 1889, Art. 8.]
The Cigar Makers' present national system of out-of-work relief was
adopted at the eighteenth session, held in New York City in September,
1889, and became operative in January, 1890. The measure as finally
adopted by the International Convention was framed by Mr. Gompers. It
provided that the unemployed members should receive three dollars per
week and fifty cents for each additional day, that after receiving six
weeks' aid the member should not be entitled to further assistance for
seven weeks, and that no member should be granted more than seventy-two
dollars during any one year. The original system has remained
practically unchanged with the exception that in 1896 the annual
allowance per member was reduced.
From the outset--the first benefit was paid on January 22,
1890[160]--this system has been successful in operation. The report of
the international president to the nineteenth session, September, 1891,
showed that 2286 members out of 24,624, or less than ten per cent. of
the total membership, drew out-of-work benefits during the first year,
to the amount of $22,760.50; while during the first six months of 1891,
the second year of its operation, 1074 out of 24,221, or less than five
per cent., received assistance to the amount of $13,214.50.[161] During
1892 the per capita cost of the benefit was 65-1/2 cents, as compared
with 92 cents and 87 cents in 1890 and 1891, respectively. These years
were immediately preceding the great industrial and financial depression
of 1893-1897, and in consequence during the following years the per
capita amount paid showed considerable increase. In 1894 the unemployed
cost the Union $174,517.25, or $6.27 per capita of membership, and in
1896, $175,767.25, or $6.43 per capita.[162] Since 1897 the yearly
amount paid has gradually decreased with the exception of 1901 and 1904.
During sixteen years of operation, ending January 1, 1906, $1,045,866.11
has been paid to unemployed members.[163]
[Footnote 160: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 15, February, 1890, p. 9.]
[Footnote 161: _Ibid_., Vol. 17, October, 1891, p. 5 (Supplement).]
[Footnote 162: Proceedings of the Twenty-first Session, September, 1896;
in Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1.]
[Footnote 163: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 31, April, 1906, p. 13.]
Even before the Cigar Makers, the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia,
the small union of the German American printers, had established an
out-of-work benefit. The Typographia began to pay an out-of-work benefit
in 1884, eleven years after the organization of the national union. The
new preamble adopted at the first national convention in Philadelphia,
1873, declared one of the purposes of the union to be the support of
members "when unable to obtain work."[164] In 1884, when the union
nationalized its system of benefits, the out-of-work benefit was fixed
at five dollars per week. In 1888, owing to the prosperous financial
condition of the Union, it was increased to six dollars per week, but in
July, 1894, because of the strain upon the funds of the organization
caused by the introduction of typesetting machines and the general
business depression, it was reduced to the original sum.[165]
[Footnote 164: American Federationist, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 61.]
[Footnote 165: _Ibid_.]
The system in operation at present provides that members in good
standing who have been on the unemployed list for eighteen days shall be
entitled to six dollars per week. After drawing twenty-four dollars, no
further benefit is granted until the member is on the unemployed list
again for eighteen days, and no member is entitled to more than
ninety-six dollars in any one fiscal year. Since 1888, with the
exception of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1890, and June 30, 1891,
the amount paid for out-of-work assistance has been the largest single
item in the budget of the Union. During the year ending June 30, 1894,
$17,262.50, or $14.33 per capita, an equivalent of forty-eight per cent.
of the total disbursements for all benevolent purposes, was paid in
out-of-work claims. The total amount paid up to June 30, 1906, was
$145,826.91, and the average yearly per capita cost had been $5.99.[166]
[Footnote 166: See table, page 91.]
Only two other American unions paid out-of-work benefits in 1906. Both
of these are small unions and recently organized. The National
Brotherhood of Coal Hoisting Engineers pay five dollars per week to
members out of employment, after the first thirty days, until work is
secured, or until the expiration of twelve weeks.[167] The Jewelry
Workers provide for the payment of seven dollars per week to married men
and five dollars to unmarried men.[168] Certain other unions, notably
the Pattern Makers,[169] pay a "victimized" benefit to members who are
unable to secure employment because they are members of the union. Such
benefits are directly connected with collective bargaining, and any
discussion thereof lies without the scope of this monograph.
[Footnote 167: Constitution, 1902 (Danville, Ill., n.d.), p. 14.]
[Footnote 168: Constitution, 1902 (New York, n.d.), p. 6.]
[Footnote 169: Constitution, 1906 (New York, n.d.), p. 17.]
The introduction of a national out-of-work benefit has been, however,
much discussed in several important unions. These have been the
International Typographical Union, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and the
Boot and Shoe Workers' Union. The unemployment caused by the depression
of 1892-1897 was responsible for much of the consideration given the
matter.
In none of these unions has the subject been more fully debated than in
the Typographical Union. In October, 1895, the New York local union
adopted an out-of-work benefit, which provided for its unemployed
members an allowance of four dollars per week for a period of eight
weeks in each year.[170] Such activity on the part of the largest local
union added considerable force to the movement for an International
benefit. President Prescott in his report to the forty-second session of
the International Union in 1894 recommended the establishment of an
out-of-work benefit, in preference to a sick benefit. He showed that
during 1894 several of the largest local unions had found it necessary
to levy special assessments for the support of unemployed members. The
amount of unemployment, especially in large cities, had increased
rapidly. A large per cent. of the unemployed consisted of old men who
were unable to compete with younger men in the operation of the
linotype. The neglect of this class of men President Prescott
characterized as criminal.[171] All agitation for the establishment of
an out-of-work benefit has, however, up to the present time failed.[172]
[Footnote 170: Typographical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 5, p. 3.]
[Footnote 171: Proceedings of the Forty-second Annual Session, 1894, p.
3.]
[Footnote 172: Proceedings of the Forty-third Annual Session, 1896, pp.
76, 86.]
In 1894 at the eighth general session and again at the ninth in 1896 the
Carpenters and Joiners considered seriously the question.[173] The Boot
and Shoe Workers at their fifth convention in 1902, although refusing
to adopt a proposed plan for a national system, recommended as a partial
substitute that all local unions raise funds for the payment of dues of
out-of-work members and provide such other relief as they should deem
wise, "to the end that from the experience so gained a national plan for
relief of unemployed members may be developed."[174]
[Footnote 173: The Carpenter, Vol. 14, September, 1894; Vol. 16,
September, 1896.]
[Footnote 174: Proceedings of the Fifth Convention, 1902, p. 28.]
In the unions maintaining out-of-work benefits it is customary to
provide as a precautionary measure that members must have been in good
standing for a lengthy period before being entitled to the benefit. The
Cigar Makers and the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia provide that
only members of the union in good standing for two years shall be
entitled to the benefit.[175]
[Footnote 175: Constitution of the Cigar Makers' International Union of
America, 1896, thirteenth edition (Chicago, n.d.), sec. 117;
Constitution of the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia, 1901.]
Both the Cigar Makers and the Typographia have also stringent
regulations intended to prevent fraud. In the Cigar Makers' Union a
member thrown out of employment must obtain from the collector of the
shop in which he works a certificate stating the cause of his discharge.
If the unemployment is caused by the intoxication of the member, or if
he has "courted his discharge" through bad workmanship or otherwise, he
is not entitled to the benefit for eight weeks. Mere inability to retain
employment does not, however, deprive a member of the relief. If a
member leaves employment of his own volition, he is not entitled to a
benefit until he has obtained work again for at least one week. Having
obtained the certificate of the collector, the unemployed member must
register at the office of the union in a book provided for that purpose.
After having been registered for one week, he begins to draw the
out-of-work benefit. If while receiving out-of-work pay he refuses to
work in a shop where work is offered him, or neglects to apply for work
when directed by an officer of the union, he loses his right to the
benefit and cannot receive out-of-work pay again until he has had
employment for at least one week. Shop collectors are required to report
immediately the name of any member refusing to work.
After having received out-of-work benefit for six weeks, the member is
not entitled to assistance for seven weeks thereafter. From June 1 to
September 23 and from December 16 to January 15 no out-of-work benefits
are paid. During these periods, however, any member out of work can
obtain remission of dues by application to the financial secretary. He
must, however, pay such dues at the rate of ten per cent weekly when he
secures employment. The total out-of-work benefit which may be paid in
any one fiscal year is fifty-four dollars. Moreover, any member who has
received fifty-four dollars in benefits is not entitled to any further
sums until he shall have worked four weeks. But members over fifty years
of age are not required to secure employment for four weeks, but may
continue to draw the fifty-four dollars yearly although not working.
The protective rules of the Typographia are similar to those of the
Cigar Makers. Members thrown out of employment through their own fault
cannot be entered on the lists for thirty-six days. If a member gives up
his situation voluntarily, he is not entitled to a benefit for four
weeks unless his action is approved by the executive committee of the
local Typographia. Unemployed members must report daily to an officer of
the union. If a member neglects to report he loses his benefit for that
day. If a member drawing the benefit refuses to take a situation he
loses his right to the benefit for seven weeks. If he refuses work as a
substitute he loses his right to the benefit for two weeks. If an
unemployed member is unable to fill a situation and so cannot secure
work, he is not entitled longer to a benefit, and it becomes the duty of
the local executive to recommend that he be given a sum of money in lieu
of his rights as a member.
The following table shows the cost of maintaining the out-of-work
benefit in the Cigar Makers and in the Typographia:
COST OF MAINTAINING THE OUT-OF-WORK BENEFIT.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Typographia. | Cigar Makers.
Year. |---------------------------------------------------------
| | Per Capita | | Per Capita
| Total Cost. | Cost. | Total Cost. | Cost.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1885 | $ 1,118.90 | $ 2.00 | |
1886 | 1,453.08 | 1.52 | |
1887 | 1,240.10 | 1.15 | |
1888 | 1,315.13 | 1.16 | |
1889 | 6,281.50 | 5.55 | |
1890 | 4,315.00 | 3.47 | $ 22,760.50 | $ .92
1891 | 6,067.00 | 4.58 | 21,223.50 | .87
1892 | 9,359.50 | 6.77 | 17,460.75 | .65
1893 | 7,835.00 | 5.67 | 89,402.75 | 3.34
1894 | 17,262.50 | 14.33 | 174,517.25 | 6.27
1895 | 9,464.20 | 8.66 | 166,377.25 | 5.99
1896 | 7,812.00 | 7.00 | 175,767.25 | 6.43
1897 | 8,485.00 | 7.83 | 117,471.40 | 4.46
1898 | 8,603.00 | 7.82 | 70,197.70 | 2.65
1899 | 11,135.00 | 10.39 | 38,037.00 | 1.31
1900 | 8,703.00 | 8.33 | 23,897.00 | .70
1901 | 6,716.00 | 6.56 | 27,083.76 | .79
1902 | 7,839.00 | 7.86 | 21,071.00 | .56
1903 | 4,846.00 | 4.86 | 15,558.00 | .39
1904 | 5,785.00 | 5.82 | 29,872.50 | .72
1905 | 5,105.00 | 5.23 | 35,168.50 | .87
1906 | 5,086.00 | 5.22 | 23,911.00 | .60
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total | $145,826.91 | | $1,069,777.11 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Average | 6,638.49 | $5.99 | 62,928.06 | $2.20
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From the above table some comparison can be made of the per capita cost
of the out-of-work benefit in the Cigar Makers' Union and in the
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia, respectively. For the twenty-two
years ending with the fiscal year June 30, 1906, the average annual cost
to the German-American Printers has been $5.99 per member, while the
Cigar Makers have disbursed, during the fifteen years in which the
benefit has been paid, a yearly average of $2.20 per member. The higher
average cost to the Typographia has been due chiefly to two causes, (1)
the greater amount paid as a weekly benefit, and (2) the larger annual
sum which may be paid. The Typographia has always paid a greater weekly
benefit. From the adoption of the benefit in 1884 to 1888 this union
granted five dollars per week for a maximum period of twelve weeks.
During 1888-1894 six dollars per week was allowed. For several years
following 1894 five dollars per week for sixteen weeks, or eighty
dollars per year, was granted, while at present six dollars per week, or
ninety-six dollars per year, is paid. On the other hand, the Cigar
Makers' Union, during 1889-1896, paid three dollars per week and fifty
cents for each additional day, with a possible maximum of seventy-two
dollars per year; but since 1896 the maximum allowance has been
fifty-four dollars. Thus, at present the German Printers pay both a
greater weekly benefit and a larger maximum yearly amount.
In the Typographia there appears to be a tendency towards an increased
per capita cost, while in the Cigar Makers' Union the reverse has been
true. This may be attributed in large part to the difference in the age
grouping of the memberships. The membership of the German Printers is
small, of a higher average age, and is gradually decreasing, while that
of the Cigar Makers, with a lower average age, shows a steady increase.
Many of the older men in both organizations are employed only when trade
is very brisk and draw each year the full amount of the benefits. The
variations from year to year are so great, however, as to obscure any
general tendency. During the depression of 1893-1897 the per capita cost
in the Typographia rose from $3.47 in 1890 to $6.77 in 1892, and to
$14.33 in 1894. The per capita cost in the Cigar Makers' Union shows a
very sudden increase from 65 cents in 1892 to $3.34 in 1893, to $6.27 in
1894, and to $6.43 in 1896, after which there followed a gradual
decrease. The cost of the out-of-work benefit is therefore far more
variable than that of any other benefit in either of the unions, and
necessitates on the part of both the maintenance of larger reserves.
* * * * *
The systems of so-called out-of-work benefits maintained by the Iron
Molders, Pattern Makers, Tobacco Workers, Granite Cutters, Leather
Workers on Horse Goods, and Locomotive Firemen, as has already been
noted, merely exempt the unemployed member from payment of national
dues. This is a device to retain members in "good standing" during
unemployment.
The system maintained by the Iron Molders is the most important of those
in operation. The history of the introduction of this benefit by the
Iron Molders' Union illustrates the conditions many unions face in
building up a system of relief. As a union develops benefits the dues
required of members are larger. The unemployed member thus finds himself
heavily burdened by the dues he must pay his union at the very time he
needs most the protection afforded by the benefit. The establishment of
the out-of-work benefit in the Iron Molders' Union was the direct result
of the inauguration of a system of sick benefits in 1896. Members in
arrears for dues for a period longer than thirteen weeks were excluded
from sick relief. The limitation aroused serious dissatisfaction. It was
felt that if an unemployed member could not be aided, at least he should
be protected against the loss of his right to benefits. Some local
unions paid the dues of their unemployed members, but in a period of
depression the burden became too great. In October, 1897, two years
after the inauguration of the sick benefit, the national union of the
Iron Molders assumed the responsibility of paying the dues of unemployed
members. All members of six months' standing, who were not in arrears
for more than four weeks' dues, became entitled to relief from the
payment of dues for thirteen weeks during any fiscal year. The
out-of-work benefit does not begin, however, until two weeks after the
member has become idle.[176] The national union issues through the local
unions out-of-work stamps which are received in payment of dues.
[Footnote 176: Constitution, 1902 (Cincinnati, 1902), Art. 19. Until
1899 the unemployed member must not have been in arrears for more than
four weeks' dues, and the benefit did not begin until he had been idle
four weeks. (Constitution, 1898.)]
The fund for paying the dues of unemployed members is supported by a
weekly tax of one cent on each member. For 1898 the income of the
out-of-work relief fund was $6,861.61, while the disbursements were only
$1278, representing 7100 out-of-work stamps. In the whole period
(1897-1907) since the inauguration of the out-of-work benefit, the
revenue has more than sufficed for the disbursements. Although the 1899
convention transferred $10,000 of the surplus to other funds, on June
20, 1907, there remained in the fund the sum of $125,021, nearly twice
as much as had been expended. The Union has not passed through a period
of depression since the system was established, and the officers have
insisted that wise policy requires the maintenance of a large
reserve.[177]
[Footnote 177: Proceedings of Twenty-second Session, p. 646. In
Supplement to Iron Molders' Journal, September, 1902.]
The exemption of unemployed members from the payment of dues takes many
forms. The Tobacco Workers' Union provides that members out of
employment shall be granted twelve weeks in which to pay dues before
they may be suspended from the Union.[178] The Granite Cutters'
Association provides that any member in good standing and out of
employment for two months or more shall be exempt from half of his
dues.[179] The Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods grants
exemption from payment of dues for a period of thirteen weeks in any one
year to unemployed members.[180] The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
provides that any member out of employment and unable to pay his dues or
assessments shall not be expelled, and that the local lodge must pay his
dues for one quarter. It is optional with the subordinate lodge as to
whether or not it shall keep the member in good standing for more than
one quarter.[181]
[Footnote 178: Constitution, 1900, third edition, 1905 (Louisville,
n.d.), sec. 43.]
[Footnote 179: Constitution, 1906 (Quincy, n.d.), p. 45.]
[Footnote 180: Constitution, 1904 (Kansas City, n.d.), p. 22.]
[Footnote 181: Constitution, 1905 (Indianapolis, n.d.), sec. 195.]
The regulations enforced by the unions concerning the remission of the
dues of unemployed members are less stringent than the rules governing
the larger money out-of-work benefit. In the first place the period of
good standing required before a member is entitled to assistance is
shorter. A member of the Iron Molders is eligible to the benefit after
six months of good standing. The Granite Cutters require only a two
months' membership.[182] Moreover, the rules as to registration are less
strict. In the Iron Molders' Union an unemployed member must report the
date of the beginning of his idleness at the first regular meeting after
he has been discharged and must report in person at every regular
meeting of his local union; otherwise he cannot claim the benefit. The
Leather Workers have the same provisions. The Tobacco Workers require
idle members claiming indulgence in the payment of dues to report to the
local financial secretary twice each week.[183]
[Footnote 182: Constitution, 1905 (Quincy, n.d.), p. 45.]
[Footnote 183: Constitution of the Leather Workers on Horse Goods, 1905
(Kansas City, n.d.), p. 22; Constitution of the International Tobacco
Workers' Union, 1900, third edition, 1905 (Louisville, n.d.), sec. 43.]
The cost of the exemption of dues in none of the unions is large. The
following table gives the chief facts concerning the benefit in the Iron
Molders' Union for the period 1900-1906:
OUT-OF-WORK RELIEF IN THE IRON MOLDERS' UNION.
==========================================================
Year. |Number of Stamps| Value of | Cost per Member
|Issued Yearly. |Out-of-work[184]| per Year.
| | Stamps |
----------------------------------------------------------
1900 | 23,436 | $ 5,859.00 | $0.12
1901 | 26,349 | 6,587.25 | .12
1902 | 10,389 | 2,597.25 | .04
1903 | 26,073 | 6,518.25 | .04
1904 | 92,685 | 23,171.25 | .27
1905 | 24,906 | 6,226.50 | .07
1906 | 16,676 | 4,169.00 | .04
----------------------------------------------------------
Average| 31,502 | $7,875.50 | $0.10
----------------------------------------------------------
[Footnote 184: Approximate number only. Data furnished by Mr. R.H.
Metcalf, financier of the union.]
The great variations in the number of out-of-work stamps issued is due,
of course, to variations in the amount of unemployment. The annual
amount of unemployment per capita, so far as it is measured by the
number of stamps issued, varied from less than one fourth of a week in
1902, 1903 and 1906 to one and one half weeks in 1904. The per capita
cost of maintaining the benefit varied from four cents in 1902, 1903 and
1906 to twenty-seven cents in 1904.
In the history of certain of the principal unions a system of loans or
travelling benefits has preceded the out-of-work benefit. The travelling
benefit may indeed be termed the first stage of out-of-work relief. The
following unions maintain the travelling benefit either in the form of a
loan or of a gift: the Cement Workers, Chain Makers, Cigar Makers,
Compressed Air Workers, Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia, Flour and
Cereal Mill Employees, Fur Workers, Glass Snappers, Hod Carriers, Lace
Curtain Operatives, Leather Workers on Horse Goods, Machine Printers and
Color Mixers, the Mattress and Spring Bed Workers, Shipwrights, Slate
Quarrymen, Tile Layers and Helpers, and the Watch Case Engravers. The
travelling benefit and the out-of-work benefit are complementary in
several of these unions. The systems of travelling benefits maintained
by the Cigar Makers, the Leather Workers on Horse Goods and the
Typographia are the most important.
The history of the travelling benefit in the Cigar Makers' Union begins
almost with the earliest years of the Union. Prior to the Detroit
convention, September, 1873, the Union maintained a system of loans to
travelling craftsmen. Under this system any member, travelling in search
of employment, was entitled to a loan sufficient to transport him to the
nearest union. The local union in which the travelling member secured
employment was required to collect at least twenty per cent. of the
weekly wages of such member.[185] This first attempt was an absolute
failure and in 1878 the system was abolished.[186] In October, 1878,
local union No. 122 proposed an amendment to the international
constitution to provide means of aiding "all travelling craftsmen in
need." The aid was not to be a loan but an absolute gift.[187] This
proposal failed of adoption; but in August, 1879, local union no. 144
proposed a new plan.[188] A member of six months' standing, if
unemployed, was to be loaned a sufficient sum to transport him by the
cheapest route to the nearest union and so to the next. The total of
the loans was not to aggregate more than twenty dollars.[189] The plan
was adopted and became effective May 1, 1880. In 1884 the amount of any
one loan was limited to twelve dollars, and in 1896 it was farther
reduced to eight dollars.[190]
[Footnote 185: Constitution, 1867, Art. 11.]
[Footnote 186: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 1, October 5, 1878, p. 3.]
[Footnote 187: _Ibid._]
[Footnote 188: _Ibid._ Vol. 4, August, 1879, p. 2.]
[Footnote 189: Constitution, 1880 (New York, 1880), Art. 4.]
[Footnote 190: Constitution, 1884 (New York, 1884), Art. 7; 1896,
fourteenth edition, (Chicago, n.d.), p. 27. (Issued in 1906.)]
The Cigar Makers have always required members to return the sum
borrowed. The repayment of such loans, in the case of the Cigar Makers'
Union, must commence with the first week of employment, and must
continue at the rate of ten per cent. of the weekly earnings.[191] The
Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods require payment at the
rate of fifteen per cent. of weekly wages.[192] The German-American
Printers, on the other hand, grant travelling loans as an absolute
gift.[193] This is the only important union which follows this policy.
[Footnote 191: Constitution, 1880 (New York, 1880), Art. 4; 1896,
thirteenth edition, (Chicago, n.d.), p. 28.]
[Footnote 192: Constitution, 1904 (Kansas City, n.d.), p. 21.]
[Footnote 193: Report of Industrial Commission, Vol. 17, Introduction,
p. XLII.]
Naturally the rules governing the benefit in the Typographia are more
stringent than in the case of those unions which merely loan travelling
money. The chief regulations are as follows: In order to draw the
benefit a member must have been in good standing for at least six
months. He must have paid in full his dues to the day of his departure.
He may draw two cents per mile for the first two hundred miles and one
cent for every additional mile, but he cannot at any one time receive
more than ten dollars. A member assisted with the travelling benefit
must remain at least three months in a place before he can claim another
travelling benefit. When he has drawn a total of twenty-five dollars he
is not entitled to any further assistance for twelve months. Those
members who lose their places through their own fault are not entitled
to a travelling benefit for three months, and those who give up their
places can receive the benefit only if the executive committee of the
local Typographia approves their action. A travelling member going to a
place where there is a local Typographia must report to it within two
days or he forfeits his right to out-of-work benefits for four weeks. If
a member receives the travelling benefit and does not leave, he must
return the amount received, and is not in good standing until he has
done this.
The total amounts paid yearly in some of the leading unions furnish some
idea of the importance of this benefit. Since the inauguration of the
benefit to January 1, 1906, the Cigar Makers' International Union has
paid a total of $991,777.98 in travelling loans, or an average of
$38,145.31 per year.[194] The Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia has
paid from July 1, 1884, to June 30, 1906, $8116.11, or an average of
$368.91.[195] For the year ending September 30, 1904, the Cement Workers
paid $1600, the Flour and Cereal Mill Employees, $2084.95, the Hod
Carriers and Building Laborers, $1500, and the Leather Workers on Horse
Goods, $7703.15.[196]
[Footnote 194: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 31, April 15, 1906.]
[Footnote 195: Hugo Miller, 25-jährige Geschichte der
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia, 1873-1898, p. 58; Jahres-Bericht,
1899-1906.]
[Footnote 196: Report of Proceedings of the Twenty-fourth Annual
Convention, American Federation of Labor, 1904 (Washington, 1904), p.
46.]
The table on page 99 shows the total amounts paid yearly and the average
loan per capita of membership in the Cigar Makers' Union and the average
per capita cost in the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Typographia.
TOTAL AND PER CAPITA AMOUNTS OF TRAVELLING
LOANS AND BENEFITS.
=======================================================
| Cigar Makers. | Typographia.
|----------------------------------------------
Year. | Amount of | Loans Per | Amount of |
|Travelling | Capita of | Travelling | Cost per
| Loans. |Membership.| Benefits | Member.
--------------------------------------------------------
1880 | $ 2,808.15| $0.63 | |
1881 | 12,747,09| .87 | |
1882 | 20,386.64| 1.78 | |
1883 | 37,135.20| 2.81 | |
1884 | 39,632.08| 3.48 | |
1885 | 26,683.54| 2.22 | $ 345.50 | $0.61
1886 | 31,835.71| 1.29 | 264.10 | .27
1887 | 49,281.04| 2.34 | 483.45 | .44
1888 | 42,894.75| 2.50 | 669.29 | .59
1889 | 43,540.44| 2.71 | 456.17 | .40
1890 | 37,914.72| 1.53 | 576.65 | .46
1891 | 53,535.73| 2.21 | 622.47 | .47
1892 | 47,732.47| 1.78 | 797.19 | .57
1893 | 60,475.11| 2.25 | 439.64 | .31
1894 | 42,154.17| 1.52 | 680.06 | .56
1895 | 41,657.16| 1.50 | 304.46 | .27
1896 | 33,076.22| 1.39 | 339.86 | .30
1897 | 29,067.04| 1.10 | 279.50 | .25
1898 | 25,237.43| .95 | 390.62 | .35
1899 | 24,234.33| .83 | 320.74 | .29
1900 | 33,238.13| .97 | 178.79 | .17
1901 | 44,652.73| 1.31 | 175.05 | .17
1902 | 45,314.05| 1.22 | 107.28 | .11
1903 | 52,521.41| 1.33 | 159.56 | .16
1904 | 58,728.71| 1.41 | 181.85 | .18
1905 | 55,293.93| 1.37 | 195.46 | .20
1906 | 50,650.21| 1.29 | 147.52 | .15
---------------------------------------------------------
Total |$991,177.98| | $8116.11 |
---------------------------------------------------------
Average| 38,145.31| $1.63 | 368.91 | $0.33
---------------------------------------------------------
The travelling loan in the Cigar Makers was for some time badly
administered. Until the adoption of the out-of-work benefit, the
financial secretaries, moved by sympathy, frequently granted the benefit
to members who had never left their jurisdiction and who had no
intention of leaving.[197] This practice endangered the entire
system.[198] Since the adoption of the out-of-work benefit the amount of
loans per capita of membership has diminished. At present the cost of
the travelling benefit in the Cigar Makers is not large; the loans are
promptly and efficiently collected. Data for recent years are not
available; but in the period from 1881 to 1901 the sum of $735,266 was
loaned and $660,255 was repaid. The balance outstanding at the close of
1900 was $75,014, and of this a considerable part was collectible. The
net cost of the system for twenty-one years was thus certainly less than
$50,000, an average annual cost of about $2400, or an annual average per
capita cost of ten cents. Even in the Typographia, where the benefit is
a gift, the annual per capita cost to the membership is not large,
varying from eleven to sixty cents, according to the state of
employment.
[Footnote 197: Cigar Makers' Journal, Vol. 6, July, 1881, p. 1.]
[Footnote 198: _Ibid.,_ Vol. 9, July, 1884, p. 3.]