The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1912-11-29
BELL TELEPHONE PENSIONS.
Plan for Employees Pensions, Dis
ability Benefits and Insurance.

$4,000 employees of the Bell system
and associated interests and their fam
lilies and dependents, amounting alto
gether to more than quarter Of a
million people.
This $10,O00,0O0 Fund will be made
from year to year by annual appro-
priations or the part of the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company
and the Associated Companies, and the
Western Union Telegraph Company
and the Western Electric Company.
This provision is made entirely at
the expense of the various companies
interested, without contributions OF
any kind from the employees them
selves. The application of these
varied benefits will be strictly demo
cratic and will be for the benefit OF
all employees of every rank. The
plan will provide for free change of
employment from one company to an
other. with full credit for combined
terms of service.
The Bell system and associated in
terests provide employment for about
175,0OO people; of this number 100000
are employees of the Bell Telephone
System. The total yearly pay for the
whole group is about Sis, 100000,
something over SSO,OOO,OOO being paid
out in wages by the Bell telephone
system alone.
The terms by which provision is
made for the needs of age, illness, &C
cidents and death may be summarized
a. follows
Pensions.
Male employees who have reached
the age of sixty years and who have
been twenty years or more in service,
may retire on pensions. They may be
retired at the option of the company
when they have reached the age of
fifty-five years and have been twenty
five years or more in service. The
pension age of female employees is in
each case five years younger than that
of the male employees. Any employee
who has been thirty years in service,
regardless of age, may be pensioned
on the approval of the President Of
the company.
The amount of the pension is auto
matically based on the years of service
and the amount of pay, and will be l
per cent. of the average annual pay
for ten years, multiplied by the num-
Der of years of service. Therefore, a
man who had been thirty years in SER
vice would get 80 per cent. of the
average salary which he had been re-
ceiving during his last ten years of
service. No pension will be less than
$4,000 month.
In the case OF accidents occurring
i'm and. due to the performance Of
work for the company, the employee
will receive for total disability, full
pay for thirteen weeks and half pay
for the remainder of disability, up to
six years.
If the disability is temporary, he
will receive full pay for thirteen
weeks and half pay until able to earn
a livelihood, not exceeding six years.
Employees who are disabled by
sickness or accident outside of the
regular course of duty after ten years
Or more in service, will receive full
pay for thirteen weeks and half pay
for thirty-nine weeks; if from five to
ten years in service, full pay for thir--
teen weeks and half pay for thirteen
weeks if from two to five years in
service, full pay for four weeks and
half pay for nine weeks. In the case
of employees who have not been two
years i'm service, heads of departments
will BE- permitted the same discretion
a. heretofore, i'm continuing pay dur
ing temporary illness.
I'm case of death resulting from ac-
cident in and due to performance of
work for the company, an insurance
amounting to three years pay will be
paid to the dependents of the en-
ployee, the maximum payment being
$4,000
In case of death resulting from sick
ness or from accident outside of busi-
ness, the payment will be one years
pay for employees who have been ten
years or more in service, and one-half
of one years. pay for employees who
have been from five to ten years in
service, the maximum payment being
$4,000.
If any State statutes provide for
more liberal compensation than is pro-
vided under theBeneft Plan, the statu-
tory provision will prevail. Where
the employees have legal rights, as in
some accident cases, they will have
the option of exercising such rights
or accepting the company's benefits.
The American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company has set aside from its
surplus fund which provides for
those whom it directly employs, and
hlSO ~ GNluCS d ICSCIfGy upon WHICH,,
under certain conditions, the Associ-
ated Companies may draw This fund
il supplemented by funds set aside by
each company. The total appropri-
ations will aggregate something more
than $10,000,000. The benefits, it is
estimated, will cost annually about
$1,000,000 more than the present pay
ments on this account
The administration of the funds will
be in the hands of Employees Bene-
fit Committees of five, to be appointed
by the Board of Directors of each
company The committee of each as
ISOLATED company will have jurIsdic-
ton over the benefits for employees OF
that company
The Employees Benefit Committee
of the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company will have general
jurisdiction over the plan for the en-
tire system and specific authority a.
10 the American Telephone and Tele-
graph Company's employees benefits
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