In the Cigar Makers the cost of the death benefit is increasing. The full effect of the grading of the benefit has not as yet shown itself in the cost, since the influx of members recently has caused the rate to be somewhat lower than it would have been. If the Cigar Makers hold their membership and the increase slackens, it may be expected that by 1912 the cost of the benefit will be much higher than at present. In 1905, a normal year, the death benefit, including a member's death benefit graded from $200 to $550 (two to fifteen years), a wife's funeral benefit of forty dollars and a disability benefit equal to the death benefit cost the union the per capita rate of $3.56 to maintain. The following table shows the per capita cost of the death benefit system in several of the more important and typical systems:
| PER CAPITA COST OF THE DEATH BENEFIT. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year. | Cigar Makers. | Typographia. | Carpenters. | Typographical Union. | Iron Molders. | Leather Workers on Horse Goods | Granite Cutters. | Glass Bottle Blowers. |
| 1882 | $0.15 | |||||||
| 1883 | .20 | |||||||
| 1884 | .33 | |||||||
| 1885 | .35 | $2.11 | ||||||
| 1886 | .20 | 1.05 | $0.69 | |||||
| 1887 | .43 | 1.94 | .66 | |||||
| 1888 | 1.23 | 2.58 | .66 | |||||
| 1889 | 1.06 | 1.85 | .90 | |||||
| 1890 | 1.03 | 1.94 | .90 | |||||
| 1891 | 1.51 | 2.23 | .99 | $0.92 | ||||
| 1892 | 1.60 | 1.60 | 1.38 | 1.02 | ||||
| 1893 | 1.74 | 2.20 | 1.38 | $0.73 | 1.37 | |||
| 1894 | 2.12 | 4.36 | 1.62 | .81 | 1.28 | |||
| 1895 | 2.27 | 3.51 | 2.46 | .78 | $0.44 | |||
| 1896 | 2.69 | 2.36 | 1.62 | .78 | .44 | |||
| 1897 | 2.44 | 4.23 | 1.77 | .84 | .44 | |||
| 1898 | 3.30 | 2.63 | 1.80 | .80 | .44 | $4.66 | ||
| 1899 | 3.13 | 1.27 | .99 | .83 | $0.31 | |||
| 1900 | 2.64 | 3.13 | .81 | .78 | .42 | .11 | ||
| 1901 | 3.67 | 4.09 | .90 | .72 | .54 | .28 | 1.18 | |
| 1902 | 3.11 | 3.58 | 1.10 | .80 | .57 | .39 | 1.21 | |
| 1903 | 3.14 | 3.25 | .92 | .72 | .60 | .34 | 1.16 | |
| 1904 | 3.24 | 2.26 | 1.18 | .84 | .64 | .55 | 1.11 | |
| 1905 | 3.56 | 4.09 | 1.30 | .84 | .72 | .38 | 1.53 | 5.93 |
| 1906 | 4.08 | 2.71 | 1.23 | .79 | ||||
CHAPTER III.
SICK BENEFITS.
Second in importance among the systems of benevolent relief maintained by American trade unions is the sick benefit paid to members who are prevented by illness from working. Historically, the sick benefit was probably the earliest beneficiary feature inaugurated by local trade unions, but, for several reasons, its adoption by the national unions was delayed. At the present time two systems of sick benefits can be found among American trade unions. In some unions this benefit is paid from the funds of the local union but is subject to the general supervision of the national organizations. In other unions it is disbursed from the national treasury and is immediately controlled by the national officials.
Of the one hundred and seventeen unions allied with the American Federation of Labor in 1904, twenty-eight reported payment of sick benefits.[[120]] They were as follows: Bakers and Confectioners, Barbers, Bill Posters, Boot and Shoe Workers, Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Amalgamated Carpenters,[[121]] Cigar Makers, Compressed Air Workers, Foundry Employees, Freight Handlers, Fur Workers, Glass Snappers, Hotel and Restaurant Employees, Jewelry Workers, Leather Workers on Horse Goods, Machine Printers and Color Mixers, Machinists, Mattress, Spring and Bed Workers, Iron Molders, Oil and Gas Well Workers, Piano and Organ Workers, Plumbers, Print Cutters, Street and Electric Railway Employees, Tile Layers, Tobacco Workers, Travellers' Goods and Leather Novelty Workers, Wire Weavers. All of these, with a few exceptions, such as the Machinists and the American Wire Weavers, pay sick benefits from the national treasury.
The following table contains a list of the principal organizations that pay national sick benefits, arranged in the order of the introduction of the benefit: