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Employee-Benefit Plans Under Collective Bargaining, Mid- 1 9 5 0 Bulletin No. 1017 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR M aurice J. Tobin , Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS E wan Cl ague , C om m issioner Employee-Benefit Plans Under Collective Bargaining, Mid-1950 [Reprinted from the February 1951 M onthly Labor Review .] Bulletin No. 1017 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR M aurice J. Tobin , Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS E wan Clague , C om m issioner For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 15 cents Letter of Transmittal U nited States D epartment of L abor, B ureau of L abor Statistics, W a s h in g to n , D . C ., F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 1 9 5 1 . The Secretary of L abor: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on the status of employe benefit plans under collective bargaining during mid-1950. The report d e t primarily with the extent and financing of these programs by broad indust groups, major union affiliation, and specific types of benefits. The report was prepared in the Bureau’s Division of Industrial Relations Relatio by Evan Keith Rowe. E wan C lague, C o m m is s io n e r . Hon. M aurice J. T obin, S e c r e ta r y o f L a b o r . Contents Page 1 Pension plans________________________________________________________ Industry coverage_______________________________________________ Financing_______________________________________________________ Extent by union affiliation_______________________________________ Health and insurance benefits________________________________________ Industry coverage_______________________________________________ Financing________________ Extent by union affiliation Specific types of benefits. _ (in) 3 3 4 5 5 5 CO CO CO Extent of coverage______________________________________________ Employee-Benefit Plans Under Collective Bargaining, Mid-1950 prolonged stoppages preceded their establishment; for example, the month-long strike in the basic steel industry in late 1949, and the United Auto mobile Workers (CIO)-Chrysler Corp. dispute, which began in late January 1950 and was termi nated in May.4 Finally, union pressures for more adequate pensions, combined with the negotiation of major plans integrated with Social Security, led to increasing employer acceptance of a higher level of old-age benefits. In August 1950, these factors, in conjunction with still rising living costs, resulted in substantial amendments to the Social Security Act. At least 7,650,000 workers were covered by pen sion or social insurance benefits under collective bargaining by mid-1950. The extent of benefit coverage— more than double that found in 1948— reflects the widespread movement in the last 2 years on the part of employers and unions to establish new programs, or to bring existing pro grams within the scope of labor-management agreements.1 B y mid-1950, practically every major union in the country (excluding unions representing rail road and government employees for whom special Federal, State, or municipal legislation exists) had, to some extent, negotiated pension or “ health and welfare” programs. Labor's drive for “ security programs” — health, insurance, pensions—first was given impetus dur ing the war by the Government's wage stabiliza tion and taxation policies, which made such programs feasible and less expensive to employers. Later, higher retirement annuities were sought because Federal old-age benefits, which had re mained unchanged until 1950, proved increasingly inadequate in the face of rising prices. Early in 1949, the legal obligation of employers to bargain on pensions under the Labor Manage ment Relations Act of 1947 was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.2 Later that year, organized labor received additional support by the Steel Industry Fact-finding Board, which held that industry had both a social and economic obligation to provide its workers with social insur ance and pensions.3 Following these endorsements, organized labor accelerated and intensified its drive for pensions and insurance. In many instances, agreements on benefit programs were concluded peacefully. In a significant number of cases, however, severe and Extent of Coverage 6 Of the approximately 7,650,000 workers cov ered by some type of health, insurance, or pension plan under collective bargaining, about 60 percent were covered by plans which included pensions as T able 1.— Workers covered by employee-benefit plans under collective-bargaining agreements,1 mid-1950 Total cov ered AFL CIO Unaffiliated Type of plan Work Work Work Work ers Per ers Per ers Per ers Per (thou cent (thou cent (thou cent (thou cent sands) sands) sands) sands) Total........................... 7,652 100.0 2,683 100.0 3,631 100.0 1,338 100.0 Health and welfare* and pension com bined____________ Health and welfare___ Pension or retirement- 4,599 60.1 2,529 33.1 524 6.8 884 32.9 1,364 50.9 435 16.2 2,830 78.0 749 20.6 52 1.4 885 66.1 416 31.1 37 2.8 1Data based on information for 71 AFL unions, 29 CIO unions, and 31 unaffiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. 3Includes one or more of the following types of benefits: life insurance or death; accidental death and dismemberment; accident and sickness (but not sick leave or workmen’s compensation); cash or services covering hospital, surgical, maternity, and medical care. (i) 932507—51 Major union affiliation 2 well as social insurance benefits.® Slightly over 33 percent were under plans providing social insurance benefits only, and almost 7 percent were covered by pensions alone (table 1). Approximately 35 percent of the 7.6 million workers under benefit plans were under plans of unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.7 About 47 percent were included under benefit programs negotiated by affiliated unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the remainder by unaffiliated or independent unions. Individual unions have succeeded in negotiating plans for the workers they represent in varying degrees. Of the 79 national and international unions which provided information on both the total number of workers under all their agreements and the number covered by employee-benefit plans, 48 secured these benefits for a substantial majority of all the workers they represent. For 35 of these unions, the coverage ranged from 80 to 100 percent of all the workers under agreement (table 2). Many of the programs were originally estab lished by management and later brought within the scope of the collective-bargaining agreement. Such plans were frequently amended and liber alized, as for example, the pension plan of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., first adopted in 1923. In many instances, however, the plans were created through collective bargaining, no plan having T a b l e 3.— viously existed in the particular industry or establishment. Examples of this type are the United Mine Workers Welfare and Retirement Fund and the Ford M otor Co.— UAW (CIO) pension plan. T a b l e 2. — Distribution of reporting unions,l by proportion of workers covered by employee-benefit plans to workers covered by agreements, mid-1950 Reporting Number of unions whose total agreement Workers cov unions coverage (workers) was— ered by em ployee-benefit plans as per Num Per Under 10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000 250,000 cent of all ber to and cent 10,000 to to to workers 24,999 49,999 99,999 249,999 over Total.............. 79 100 18 14 14 11 12 10 80-100........ 60-79________ 40-59________ 20-39__........ 0-19_________ 35 13 17 12 2 45 16 22 15 2 10 1 4 3 5 5 2 2 6 1 5 2 4 2 2 3 4 1 4 2 1 6 3 1 4Includes only those national or international unions for which data were available both on total number of workers covered by all their agreements and total number of workers covered by health, welfare, and pension programs under these agreements; single-firm unions were excluded. Among the industries in which large numbers of workers are covered by some type of employeebenefit program under labor-management con tracts, metal products (including steel, automobile, and machinery) account for nearly 2.5 million persons (table 3). Almost 1.5 million workers each are covered by plans in (1) textile, apparel, and leather, and (2) transportation, communica tions, and other public utilities (except railroads).8 Workers covered by employee-benefit plans under collective-bargaining agreements, mid-1950, by major industry groups 1 Type of plan Total covered Industry group Workers (thousands) Food and tobacco...................................................................................... Textile, apparel and leather....................................................................... Lumber and furniture___________________________________________ Paper and allied products. - .................. ............ ....................................... Printing and publishing............................................................................. Petroleum, chemicals, and rubber......... ................................................... Metal products......................................................................................... Stone, clay, and glass................................................................................. Mining and quarrying___________________________________________ Transportation, communications, and other public utilities3................... Trade, finance, insurance, and services..................................................... Unclassified_________________ ______________ _____________ ______ 1Data based on information for 71AFL unions, 29 CIO unions, and 31 unaffiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and OIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. 2Includes one or more of the following types of benefits: life insurance or death; accidental death and dismemberment; accident and sickness (but not Per cent Health and welfare only2 Workers (thousands) Per cent Pension only Workers (thousands) Per cent Health, welfare, and pension Workers (thousands) Per cent 7,652 100.0 2,529 33.1 524 6.8 4,599 60.1 205 1,401 102 191 63 460 2,481 128 492 1,389 299 441 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 118 747 88 51 46 99 470 62 26 365 228 229 57.5 53.2 86.3 26.7 72.4 21.5 18.9 48.4 5.3 26.3 76.2 51.9 10 4.9 (<) 33 30 157 4 17.3 (4) 6.5 6.3 3.2 141 5 144 10.2 1.7 32.7 77 654 14 107 17 331 1,854 62 466 883 66 68 37.6 46.7 13.7 56.0 27.0 72.0 74.8 48.4 94.7 63.5 22.1 15.4 00 00 sick leave or workmen’s compensation); cash or services covering hospital, surgical, maternity, and medical care. 3Less than 1,000. 4Less than 1 percent. 5Excludes railroads, 3 Chart 1 . Extent and Method of Financing Employee-Benefit Plans Under Collective Bargaining WORKERS C O V E R E D BY E M P L O Y E E - B E N E F I T P L A N S (7 , 6 5 2 , 0 0 0 ) Health a Welfare and Pension Plans iiiiii 6 0 . 1% Health a Welfare • • Pension or Retirement • * i n i 33.1% 6.8% M E T H O D OF F IN A N C IN G : tM e& U U ou td 'W elfeiA e. P lcu tA Employer only Joint-Employer a Employee Undetermined 19.4% 5.9% 54.6 % P enA U m P low U 74.7 % UNITED STATES DEPARTMENTOF LABOR BUREAU OFLABORSTATISTICS Pension Plans Stress on pensions during this period reflected organized labor’s desire to round out the “ pack age” of benefits— protection against the future hazards of old age, as well as against the current contingencies of death or serious and prolonged illness. Pension plans within the scope of collectivebargaining agreements covered approximately 5.1 million workers in mid-1950 (table 4). This was more than three times the number reported 2 years earlier. In d u stry Coverage . The increase in pension cover age in the past year is attributable in large part to the establishment of pension plans in the basic industries, notably steel and automobile. Ap proximately IK million workers in these two industries alone were covered by pension plans negotiated through collective bargaining since the summer of 1949. The metal products group of industries (steel, automobile, machinery) thus leads all others in number of workers covered by pension plans, accounting for two out of every five workers so covered. (See table 5.) Equally significant is the extent to which workers in certain industry groups are almost completely covered by pension plans in agree ments. Better than 70 percent of all workers covered by employee-benefit plans in the follow ing industry groups are covered by pensions: 4 T a b l e 4. — Workers covered by employee-benefit plans under collective-bargaining agreements, mid-1950, by method of financing Total covered Major union affiliation AFL CIO Unaffiliated Method of financing Work Work Work Work ers Per ers Per ers Per ers Per (thou cent (thou cent (thou cent (thou cent sands) sands) sands) sands) HEALTH AND WELFARE PLANS 1 Total............ ............. 7,128 100.0 2,248 100.0 3,580 100.0 1,300 100.0 Employer only........... Joint—employer and employee................. Undetermined............ 3,890 54.6 1,509 67.1 1,491 41.7 890 68.4 2,600 36.5 638 8.9 440 19.6 299 13.3 1,837 51.3 252 7.0 323 24.9 87 6.7 921 100.0 PENSION PLANS2 Total.............. ........... 5,123 100.0 1,319 100.0 2,883 100.0 Employer only______ Joint—employer and employee_____ ____ Undetermined............ 3,828 74.7 771 58.5 2,342 81.3 715 77.6 993 19.4 302 5.9 495 37.5 53 4.0 338 11.7 203 7.0 160 17.4 46 5.0 1Includes one or more of the following types of benefits: Life insurance or death; accidental death and dismemberment; accident and sickness (but not sick leave or workmen’s compensation); cash or services covering hospital, surgical, maternity, and medical care. Data based on information for 70AFL unions, 29 CIO unions, and31 unaffili ated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. Where data on coverage were available, but method of financ ing not specified, workers were included in the “undetermined” category. 2Data based on information for 52 AFL unions, 23 CIO unions, and 22 un affiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. Where data on coverage were available, but method of financing not specified, workers were included in the “undetermined” cate gory. paper and allied products; petroleum, chemicals, and rubber; metal products; mining and quarry ing; and transportation, communications, and other public utilities (excluding railroads). (See table 3.) F inancin g . One of the major, if not the most important, issues which arose in connection with labor’s drive to establish or to bring employeebenefit plans under collective bargaining was the question of costs—whether these programs were to be financed by the employer alone, or by con tributions from both employer and employee. The Steel Industry Board expressed the opinion th at employers should bear the entire cost, but no uniformity on financing followed. Major settle ments in the steel and automobile industries, for example, provided for employer-financed pensions and jointly financed social-insurance benefits. In such industries as longshoring, maritime, truck ing, and building construction, in which bargain ing is generally on a multiemployer or employer association basis, so-called industry or area benefit funds to which employers alone contribute have been the general rule. The great majority of workers under negotiated pension plans do not directly contribute to their cost. Of the 4.8 million workers for whom data were available on the method of financing, fourfifths were covered by employer-financed pension programs (table 4). From 80 to 100 percent of all workers under pension agreements were covered on a noncontributory basis in 51 of the 91 unions for which data were available (table 6). Employer-financed pension plans covered ap proximately 8 out of every 10 workers who were eligible for this benefit under agreements of CIO and unaffiliated unions, and 6 out of every 10 workers under pension plans in agreements con cluded by AFL affiliates (table 4). More than 90 percent of the workers in the textile, apparel and leather; printing and publish ing; stone, clay, and glass; and mining and quarry ing industry groups were covered by noncontribu tory pension programs. Over 70 percent of the workers in lumber and furniture; metal products; Chart 2. Prevalence of Employer-Financed EmployeeBenefit Plans M id -1 9 5 0 5 and transportation, communications and other public utilities were similarly covered (table 5). Extent by Union Affiliation. The emphasis placed upon pensions during the last 2 years, particularly by labor organizations in the large mass-production industries (such as steel, automobile, rubber, and glass), is shown by the following: Of all workers under negotiated employee-benefit programs, about four out of five CIO workers, one out of every two AFL workers, and two out of every three employees in unaffiliated unions were covered by pensions. Of the 5.1 million workers covered by nego tiated pension plans, slightly more than 56 per cent are under programs of unions affiliated with the CIO. Approximately a fourth are included under plans negotiated by AFL affiliated unions and the remainder—approximately 18 percent— by unaffiliated or independent unions (table 4). T a b l e 5.— Health and Insurance Benefits Agreements providing health and insurance coverage afforded protection to some 7,000,000 workers, an increase of about 2 % times the num ber of workers covered in mid-1948 (table 4). Equally significant is the fact that workers formerly covered by one or two types of benefits now receive closer to a full “package” ; i. e., life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, accident and sickness, hospitalization, surgical, and medical. More liberal benefit payments have also been agreed upon, in many instances. In addition, dependents of workers are also increas ingly covered by hospitalization and medicaland surgical-care benefit plans. Industry Coverage. Among those industries in which large numbers of workers are covered by one or more health and/or insurance benefits, Workers covered by employee-benefit plans under collective-bargaining agreements, mid-1950} by major industry groups and method of financing Method of financing i otai co'rered Employer only Industry group Jointly financed Undetermined Workers Workers Workers Workers (thousands) Percent (thousands) Percent (thousands) Percent (thousands) Percent HEALTH AND WELFARE PLANS1 Food and tobacco...................................................................................... Textile, apparel, and leather........... ..................... ..................-............... Lumber and furniture........................ .............................................. ....... Paper and allied products.................................................... -.................. Printing and publishing................................................... ....... ............... Petroleum, chemicals, and rubber------- ---------- -------------------------------Metal products......................... ................................. ............................. Stone, clay, and glass........ ........................................................................ Mining and quarrying.......................... ........ .................................. ...... Transportation, communications, and other public utilities4.................. Trade, finance, insurance, and services____________________________ Unclassified______ __________________ _____________ ____________ 7,128 100.0 3,890 54.6 2,600 36.5 638 8.9 195 1,401 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 146 1,268 83 37 54 90 350 39 474 880 238 231 74.9 90.5 81.4 23.4 84.8 20.9 15.1 31.5 96.3 70.5 81.0 77.8 41 37 15 114 9 315 1,678 85 15 2 1 .0 2 .6 8 4.1 6.9 3.9 4.4 33 47 15.8 3 157 23 19 74.7 993 102 158 63 430 2,324 124 492 1,248 294 297 211 96 4 7 14.7 72.2 14.3 73.3 72.2 0 6 8 .6 0 3.1 16.9 1 1.2 25 296 0 5.8 12.7 0 0 1 2.6 7.8 6.4 PENSION PLANS* Total_________ _______ _______________________________________ Food and tobacco___________________ ________ ____ ________ _____ Textile, apparel, and leather____________ _________ _________ _____ Lumber and furniture_____ _____________ _______________________ Paper and allied products. _______ _______________________________ Printing and publishing__________ ____ __________ _____________ Petroleum, chemicals, and rubber______ __________________________ Metal products___ _________ ________ ____________ ______________ Stone, clay, and glass___ ______________ _________________________ Mining and quarrying___ _________ ________________ ____________ Transportation, communications, and other public utilities4.................. Trade, finance, insurance, and services..................................................... Unclassified_________ ________ ________ _____ _________ _____ _____ 1Includes one or more of the following types of benefits: life insurance or death; accidental death and dismemberment; accident and sickness (but not sick leave or workmen’s compensation); cash or services covering hospital, surgical, maternity, and medical care. Data based on information for 70 AFL unions, 29 CIO unions, and 31 unaffiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single nlant or establishment. 5,123 87~ 654 14 140 17 361 2,011 66 466 1,024 71 212 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 3,828 56~ 617 10 66 16 153 1,499 60 462 756 33 100 64.4 94.3 71.4 47.1 94.1 42.4 74.5 90.9 98.2 73.8 46.5 47.2 19.4 302 5.9 17~ 30 19.5 4.6 16.1 74 52.3 5.9 53.7 13.8 9.1 14 7 4 1 194 277 6 4 249 35 106 0 24.3 49.3 50.0 0 1 .1 28.6 0 14 235 3.9 11.7 19 3 1.9 4.2 6 2 .8 Less than 1,000. * Less than 1 percent. 4 Excludes railroads. * Data based on information for 52 AFL unions, 23 CIO unions, and 22 unaffiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. 2 6 metal products (including steel, automobile, and machinery) account for some 2.3 million, or almost a third of the total number of workers (7,128,000) covered by all health and insurance plans under agreement. Two other industry groups—textile, apparel, and leather, and transportation, communications, and other public utilities—each have between 1 and 1% million so protected (table 5). Financing. Data were available on the method of financing for nearly 6.5 million workers. Nearly 60 percent of these workers were covered by employer-financed health and insurance plans (table 4). Of the unions for which data were avail able, about half had from 80 to 100 percent of all workers under health and welfare plans covered on a noncontributory basis (table 6). Such non contributory programs were characteristic of the (1) textile, apparel, and leather, (2) lumber and furniture, (3) printing and publishing, (4) mining and quarrying, and (5) trade, finance, insurance, and service industry groups; and they applied to more than 80 percent of the workers under plans in each of these groups. Jointly financed health and welfare programs, on the other hand, were fairly prominent in the paper and allied products; petroleum, chemicals, and rubber; metal products; and stone, clay, and glass industries (table 5). ticularly after World War I, were revised or ter minated because of rising benefit costs, financial instability, and, later, the enactment of the Social Security Act of 1935. Others have continued and are still in effect. Originally, these union programs were frequently the sole source of worker protection. Later, how ever, industry established programs providing sim ilar benefits, in many cases on a noncontributory basis. Until the mid-1920,s, organized labor made little effort to bring these programs within the scope of the agreement. Only in isolated cases was this accomplished until the World War II period. Currently, unions have sought, and in many instances, have obtained a “complete package” of insurance and health benefits, providing some protection against the costs, expenses, and loss of income resulting from death, illness, and injury. Life insurance ranks first among the individual insurance benefits provided in contracts, in terms of the number of workers covered. It is followed T a b l e 6 .— Percent of All unions workers cov ered by employer-financed Num Per plans ber cent _____________________ Extent by Union Affiliation^ Of the more than 7,000,000 workers covered by health and insurance benefits under agreements, approximately 50 per cent were under programs of unions affiliated with the CIO. Slightly less than a third were included under plans negotiated by AFL affiliates, and the remainder by unaffiliated or independent unions. Specific Types oj Benefits. Historically, a number of unions started largely as fraternal or benevolent associations, to provide sick, out-of-work, old-age, and mortuary benefits. Some of these programs were replaced later by more formal arrangements through group life and casualty insurance, under written in a few cases by union-sponsored insur ance companies. Others retained essentially their original form—the self-insured union fund type. Still other benefits were dropped entirely from the union program—to be replaced by legislated pro grams—for example, unemployment benefits and old-age insurance. M any union programs, par Prevalence of employer-financed employee-benefit plans, mid-1950 AFL unions Num ber Per cent CIO unions Num ber Per cent Unaffiliated unions Num ber Per cent HEALTH AND WELFARE PLANS i Total.............. *124 100 67 100 29 100 28 100 80-100............. 60-79............... 40-69________ 20-39............. 0-19____ ____ 60 48 9 16 37 56 9 12 2 41 7 11 39 11 18 8 27 6 22 6 8 3 13 3 4 12 4 19 10 8 14 28 3 7 11 26 4 1 6 21 PENSION PLANS * Total_______ 291 100 51 100 23 100 17 100 80-100_______ 60-79________ 40-59......... 20-39________ 0-19.............. 51 56 27 53 53 12 6 12 65 13 13 9 11 8 15 3 3 12 2 9 2 1 2 3 7 14 9 8 15 4 5 9 7 10 18 5 12 18 1 Includes one or more of following types of benefits: life insurance or death; accidental death and dismemberment; accident and sickness (but not sick leave or workmen's compensation); cash or services covering hospital, sur gical, maternity, and medical care. For 30 unions, data on method of financing these benefits were available for only a part of the covered workers. For 19 of these, the size of the un known group was insignificant; even if known, it would not have affected classification of the union in a particular percentage range. In the remaining 11 unions, the size of the unknown group was sufficiently large to affect their classification; in each such instance, these unions were placed in the lower percentage range. * Excludes single-firm unions. * For 14 unions, data on the method of financing these benefits were avail able for only a part of the covered workers. For 9 of these, the size of the unknown group was insignificant and even if known, would not have affected the classification of the union in a particular percentage range. In the re maining 5 unions, the size of the unknown group was sufficiently large to affect their classification and in each such instance, these unions were placed in the lower percentage range. 7 T a b l e 7 .— Specific health and welfare benefits in collective-bargaining agreements, mid-1950: Workers covered and method of financing Workers covered by specific benefit Type of benefit Life insurance or death benefit________________________________________ Accidental death and dismemberment_________________________________ Cash payments for loss oftime resulting from temporary sickness and accident (excluding sick leave and workmen’s compensation)____________________ Hospitalization_____________________________________________________ Surgical and/or medical______________________________________________ Method of financing Employer only Jointly financed Number Percent of total workers of unions covered by reporting benefit1 Number2 all health (thousands) and welfare Workers Workers Percent benefits in Percent (thousands) 140 reporting (thousands) unions 3* 101 4,150 1,983 95.6 45.7 2,780 1,395 67.0 70.4 1,370 588 33.0 29.6 101 110 101 2,781 3,461 3,140 64.1 79.8 72.4 1,640 2,245 2,245 59.0 64.9 71.5 1,141 1,216 895 41.0 35.1 28.5 139 1 Data on specific benefit coverage were available for 140 unions, including 38 AFL, 17 CIO, 20 unaffiliated unions. Also includes scattered AFL federal labor unions and CIO local industrial unions and unaffiliated unions confined to a single plant or establishment. 2 Figures not additive since many workers are covered by more than one type of benefit. * These 140 unions reported slightly more than 4.3 million workers covered by their health and welfare plans. by hospitalization care or reimbursement for hos pital expenses; surgical and/or medical care or reimbursement; accident and sickness payments; and accidental death and dismemberment cash benefits, in that order (table 7).9 Over 95 percent (4,150,000) of all workers under health and welfare plans in the 140 unions report ing the distribution of workers by specific type of benefit were covered by life insurance. Between 3 and 3% million each were covered by hospitali zation and surgical and/or medical benefits, with approximately 2.8 million covered by accident and sickness (excluding sick leave and workmen’s compensation) and 1.9 million by accidental death and dismemberment benefits. About 7 out of every 10 workers covered by life insurance, acci dental death and dismemberment, and surgical and/or medical benefits received this protection at the employer’s sole expense. A slightly smaller proportion received hospitalization and accident and sickness benefits at no cost to the employee (table 7). nation with wages. Thus, upwards of 55 percent (28,000,000 man-days) of all strike idleness during 1949 resulted from stoppages involving pension and insurance issues, including major strikes in steel and coal. During the first 6 months of 1950, pensions and insurance alone or in com bination with wages continued to dominate labor’s demands. Lost time resulting from these issues amounted to more than 70 percent of the 24,000,000 man-days of strike idleness recorded through June. * Data on the extent and financing of employee-benefit plans in mid-1950 are based on a questionnaire survey of all national and international unions (AFL, CIO, and Independent) as well as a number of single-firm unions whose membership generally exceeded 500. Data developed through these sources were supplemented by field visits, materials in the Bureau’s files, and other sources. The figure of 7,650,000 workers covered by employeebenefit plans in labor-management contracts should not, however, be taken to represent the total or maximum number of all workers covered by such plans in all current contracts. It falls short in two respects: Partial figures only were available for a few unions, while others failed to furnish any data. No attempt was made to estimate the number of additional workers covered by employee-benefit plans in the agreements of unions which furnished only partial reports, or which failed to provide any data on the coverage of these plans. The figures, however, are highly significant in that they are based on data for unions having an estimated total membership of slightly more than 13,000,000, exclusive of railroad and government unions. • Social-insurance benefits include life insurance or death, accidental death and dismemberment, accident and sickness (but not sick leave or workmen's compensation) cash or services coveringhospital, surgical, maternity, medical care. The terms “social insurance’’ and “health and welfare’’ are used interchangeably in this report. 7 Many AFL affiliates as well as their locals have, for many years, main tained benefit programs financedentirelyby membership dues orassessments. According to the Report of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor to the Sixty-ninth Convention, September 18, 1950 (pp. 80-84), about 70 national or international unions maintain some type of benefit program for their members. Disbursements under these programs during 1949 totaled slightly over $67,000,000 for death, sick, unemployment, old age, disability, and miscellaneous (including strike) benefits. 8 Precise interindustry comparisons must, of course, take into account, in addition to the extent to which these benefits have been incorporated into collective-bargaining agreements, such factors as the volume of employment in the industry, the degree of union organization (extent of collective bargain ing), and the existence of unions’ own benefit plans. 8 The relative position of accident and sickness coverage in this order is undoubtedly affected by the presence of paid sick leave plans under many union contracts. These plans, which are excluded from this study, often provide essentially the same protection as weekly accident and sickness insurance. The number of workers actually protected under union contract against loss ofincome resulting from injury or accident isthereforeconsiderably greater than is indicated by this study. For a study on the prevalence of sick leave and accident and sickness benefits under union agreements, see Sickness and Accident Benefits in Union Agreements, 1949, Monthly Labor Review, June 1950 (p. 636). 1It should be emphasized that the increase from about 3,000,000 in 1948 to approximately 7,660,000 workers covered by collectively bargained benefit plans in 1950 does not represent a net increase in the total benefit coverage of workers in private industry. Many programs had existed for some time before they were brought within the scope of collective bargaining, and there are many other employer-sponsored programs which are not under collective bargaining. 2 Inland Steel Co., 77 N. L. R. B. 1, enforcement granted, 170, Fed. 2d 247 (1948), cert, denied, 336 U. S. 960, 69 Sup. Ct. 887 (1949). * Report to the President of the United States on the Labor Dispute in the Basic Steel Industry, by the Steel Industry Board, September 10, 1949 (pp. 7-8). * Over 26 percent of the 50,000,000 man-days of strike idleness occurring during 1949—the second highest on record—was caused by disputes in which pensions and insurance were the sole issues; an additional 29 percent of the total idleness was accounted for by disputes involving these issues in combi U. S . G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O F F I C E : I9 B 1
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