The status of strike benefit programs among 113 national and international unions is covered by a recent survey by the National Industrial Conference Board. Paying Strike Benefits: Sev- enty unions, with a total mem- bership of 11.6 million, have formal, centrally based strike benefit programs. Six others report informal strike assist- ance procedures. The remain- ing 37 unions have no strike benefit program at the nation- al level, but most indicate that their locals pay benefits. The 70 unions that have a national policy follow a vari- ety of approaches: © Twenty-five national and international unions restrict their payments to a flat amount which goes to all mem- bers as a matter of right and’ without regard to individual need. These benefits range from $3 to $50 a week. The most frequent benefit—$25 a week—is paid by 11 unions. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER STRIKE BENEFIT PROGRAMS e Fourteen unions pay benefits on the basis of need without specifying any fixed amounts. They are the Car- penters, Chemical Workers, Communications Workers Electrical Workers (both IUE and UE men, Marine and Shipbuild- ing Workers, Maritime Work- ers, Textile Workers (both TWU and UTW), Upholster- ers, Utility Workers, and Watchmen. Three other uni- ons specify a fixed amount, but indicate that this benefit is paid on the basis of need. They are the Brewery Work- ers, Office and Professional Employees and the Oil Chemi- cal and Atomic Workers. © Ten unions pay minimum benefits as a matter of right but establish a schedule of supplementary benefits on the basis of presumed need. All strikers who qualify for these supplements however, receive them as a matter of right. The Auto Workers Union, for ex- ample, pays unmarried mem- bers $20 a week, married , Hatters, Longshore-.- members $25 a week, and family heads $30. Other unions provide benefit supple- ments for each dependent of a striking member. The unions in this category, besides UAW, are the Bricklayers, Glass and Ceramic Workers, Locomo- tive Engineers, Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, Rail- road Signalmen, Railroad Trainmen, and Railway Con- ductors. e Five unions, while paying benefits as a matter of right, relate the amount to either the earnings or job classification of -the individual member. These unions are the Airline Pilots, Bookbinders, Mailers, Stereotypers, and Typog- raphers. e Three unions report tak- ing both right and need into account in paying benefits. They are the Maintenance of Way Employees, Shoe Work- ers, and Welders. Among the. highest strike benefits are those of the Air- line Pilots ($10 to $15 a day), the Typographers (60 percent of a day work rate), the Mail- ers (50 percent of basic day scale), and the Stereotypers ($70 a week for journeymen). Financing Benefits: Fifty- five of the 70 unions having national strike benefit pro- grams maintain separate funds for the payment.of these bene- fits. The others pay benefits out of general funds. The most common method of building and maintaining a strike fund is to earmark for this purpose a portion of the regular per capita tax paid by, locals to the parent union. The others require separate pay- ments or assessments to be made periodically to the fund. The portion of the monthly per capita slated for strike fund ranges from a low of 10 cents to a high of $1.25. Strike fund totals reported to the NICB range from under $50,000 to over $50 million. Waiting Periods: A waiting period of one to two weeks is required by most-of the pro- 13 grams before any benefit is paid. Two unions—the Team- sters and the Newspaper Guild — provide increased benefits after a strike has been in progress for a fixed time. The Rubber Workers Union continues benefits for two weeks after the strike. Benefit Limitations: Eligi- _ bility for strike benefits fre- quently is tied to various con- ditions which the member must meet. These include: (1) The strike must be sanctioned by the parent union; (2) the local and the member must be in good financial standing; (3) the member must perform or be available for strike duties, including picketing; (4) outside earnings often will disqualify a member from strike benefits (usually to the extent of the earnings). Benefits for Nonmembers: Of the 46 unions responding to a query as to whether strike benefits ever are given to non- members, 23 said that non- members under some circum- stances could receive benefits. FROM THE LABOUR GAZETTE LOOKING BACKWARDS Editor’s Note: The follow- ing items are reprinted from the Labour Gazette’s July is- sue of 1918, in which such topics as the unpatriotic aspect of Christmas shopping, low cost housing, “decent” wages for women workers, and other subjects were discussed. * * * Christmas shopping was the subject of one of this journal’s news briefs for July 1918. The United States Council of Na- tional Defence decided that Christmas gift buying was un- democratic and a threat to the economy. The Council told manufac- turers and merchants, who were in the process of stock- ing up for the Yuletide sea- son, that it supported a pre- vious announcement made in conjunction with an advisory commission urging thrift and economy on the country. “Christmas giving,” the Council said, “should be dis- couraged, as it places a heavy burden upon labour, transpor- tation and other resources of the nation.” LOW-COST HOUSING The Canada of 50 years ago was not without its concern for low-cost housing. In Re- gina, the Imperial Oil Com- pany called for tenders for the immediate erection of 30 modern houses that were to be rented at a nominal figure —just sufficient to pay for the investment. The company said that it was not interested in a profit, only in suitable accommoda- tion for its employees. Each use was to have from four six rooms, and company would have a choice of different designs Sad the United States, | of Industrial Housing and Transportation decided to spend on houses for Government workers in Washington, $10,000,000’ of the $60,000,000 it received from housing appropriation, the balance to be distributed among industrial centres throughout the country. The housing project was to be a cooperative effort between the U.S. Labour Department and the War Industries Board. WAGES FOR WOMEN WORKERS Women workers could live “decently” on a little less than $500 a year, the Govern- ment of Manitoba concluded in 1918. To prove it, the Gov- ernment appointed a board comprising three men and two women to investigate wages in the laundry industry. Called the Minimum Wage Board, as provided for under the Manitoba Minimum Wage Act, 1918, it was empowered to dictate minimum wages, hours of employment and working conditions for female employees of mail-order houses, shops and factories throughout the province. The Board held a confer- ence with three laundry- worker representatives and three employer representa- tives, and drew up.a schedule to prove that one female worker over 18 years of age needed only $9.50 a week to live decently. The schedule’s estimates were: board and lodging, $5.50 a week, or $286 a year; footwear and repairs $20.00; stockings, $4; under- wear and nightgowns, $10; petticoats, $4.25; suit (at $25, coat and skirt to last le years), $12.50; coat and po sibly summer ‘suit (at $25, to last two years); $12.50; dresses and aprons, $15; shirt- waists, $6; handkerchiefs, $1.25; corsets, $4; gloves, $2.25; corset waists, $2.00; neckwear, $1; hats, $10; um- brella, $1; sweater (at $7.50, to last three years), $2.50; laundry, $15; doctor and den- tist, $15; streetcar fares, $20; magazines and postage, $5; association dues and insur- ance, $8; recreation and amusements, $18.50; church and contributions, $5; and in-, cidentals, $12.50. The total expenditure for the year was $493.25, or $9.48 a week. LIVING WAGE On the federal scene, Hon. T. W. Crothers, Minister of Labour, was considering Royal Commission reports that dealt with disputes in the coal-mining, steel-making and shipbuilding industries in Nova Scotia, and urged that with “the great increase in the cost of living, common la- bourers should have at least a living wage.” One report’ recommended that labourers in the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Com- pany, at Sydney Mines, re- ceive wage increases ranging from 1%c to 3%c an hour. Labourers earning 24c an hour would receive 27'%c, and those earning 29c would receive 30c. The increases were effective April 1, 1918. PROTECTING CHILD LABOURERS Letters and telegrams pour- ed into the U.S. Children’s Bureau from mines, mills and factories when the U.S. Su- preme Court decided that the Federal Child Labour Law was unconstitutional on the grounds that it infringed on local authority concerning work hours. The law, enacted in 1916, prohibited interstate or for- eign shipments of products emanating from mines, fac- tories, tanneries, workshops and quarries that employed children. The Act had gone into effect in September 1917, and, if fully enforced, would have affected 250,000 chil- dren. Although there were still 2,000,000 child workers in trades not subject to fed- eral jurisdiction, it was gen- erally believed that, by estab- lishing a nation-wide mini- mum standard of protection, and pitting the authority of the federal Government against child labour, the bill would eventually bring an end to it. The Court had to decide whether Congress had the authority to prohibit transpor- tation of produce from fac- tories “where children under 14 years were employed, or children between the ages of 14 and 15 were employed for more than eight hours in any day or more than six days in any week.” . The judges concluded finely) that the regulation of working hours was a purely state authority, and that the Act was unconstitutional because it gave the federal Govern- ment power over. local affairs. Although they sympathized with the Act’s intention, they believed it was the Court’s duty to “preserve inviolate” the constitutional limitation. It was later suggested to Con- gress that high taxes and a costly licence could be im- posed on companies employ- ing children. In view of the Supreme Court’s decision, letters and telegrams asked, “Can we now work children under 16 full time at night?” “Are we allowed to work them in the mines?” The requests usually ended, “Wire reply collect. oe THAT DANGED PILOT DROPPED US OFF THE WRONG CAMP . - - BLESS HIS SOUL!