National news. (Chicago, Ill.) 1915-19??, 1915-12-18
FUNCTIONS Of - =,
UNION BENEFITS
Nsvs Of III Editor Il h
Shoo WoIkolS' JouIDA
IN INTEREST OF UNITY.

Psysws~ss u Sick end osath OsnseAs
Mainly ess the pvepsss 81 Strength.
snins the orSsnisst s~--Aa AdtsA
incentive - kssp the Msmbsrship II
ossd ets~diWS.
Lest there he some misconcepti0n In
the minds Of the members a. to the
true functions Of the benefits paid By
this unioa. W desire to outline our
conception u the relation Of the fra.
ternal benefits paid to our member.
In the nrst place We wish to say that
II was never intended that this unioa
should be purely Q sjck and death
benefit society. We wish to make this
statement for the Information Of CT.
tain members whose chief purpose n
belonging TO the union seems TO b 70
draw sick benefit
This union was never intended to a.
ist for Its benefits, but on the contrary
the benefits were created and provided
for with the purpose Of Strengthening
the union. In other words. instead Of
the union serving beoencial purposes
NJ . prime object TIE object was that
the benent plans should further anA
serve the interest q ths union.
The object In sstahlishing and main
tanning the siek - Asath beneAts
was to take care q ~ needy mso-
bers n s1cknes ~ u 1sath. Thseo
are - many vaoo saS1ees. especially
under factory csoA1e1soA Who beco0o
subject % disease - vhe become run
Down In health. ths shipwrecks Of IN
dustry who need aGalDtance. that II
dsvolves upon IT, tsaAs union to help
them.
Prior to the adoptioo Of high dues
and bens0ts BY TIT uaioa n The year
1880 the only ass1stascs usually ~.
dered TO sAos vorkefs WAe were ina.
FACILITATED non Won By sickness was
In extreme casea, a1d then only By
popular suhscriptios. Ths popular sub
scription plan meant that When IL
ssck member We popular be was a.
sisted-pssAapo-but U ~ Asd not won
friends VIZ wsal1 tale ths trosb,s 10
start Q subecsipe3so Oovs0sat n his
behalf b wss ps1a0sa ists Asseitstses
without Az
Moesoves. ~ 01heesipe3sa plan
snaeks sooswhat q charity, while ~
plan ef regular bsos06 = ~ - taint.
"a. n tAis uaioa. wAsa Q nsnbse pays
dues. payment y 49, IT, ~ iinitsa
a0osat Il ack an 1sath hsusancs
hat ~ s9ss. al - = . member ~
cooes III - diso a. ~ claim co0ss
within ths law q ~ seganisatioa ~
member has . right 70 u beneaw 20
vided. and II y ~ charity h any
sense.
But still II must b re0embered that
the bene6ts were created for the men,
berS with the main purpose In mind Of
strengthening the union BY taking care
Of its members In distress and thus &C.
mentine the membership together more
strongly. II was intended % an added
incentive for member to keep them
selves In good standing with the unios
% that the union might BE- stronger In
caring for the interests Of the members
In their everyday wass WORK Ing life.
Now. while the member that has paid
due and becomes iegitimately SILK and
puts In . call serictly IN accord With
cur laws governing stck beneAt and
the rules governing the same II 60.
titled 10 the amount Of sick benefit pro
vtded, and the uaien wants 10 pay Il
because Il WAS 20 intsaded. when sick
elaine that are manufactured or fraud.
uIent ass presenteA foe payment II 10
trsaspnabls to the Interests Of ths
unioo and all Of IT. MEMBER. because
4 means nothing moro nor less than Q
fan upoa the anion treasury and Q
sapp(n0 Of M financial resources BY
uavsrtAy osobers.
Psovt6ed the claims ere just. there u
no disposition TO quarrel over the
amount The more the union pays out
% Just claims the better Il n. but
there = no reason Why stck claims
aAOuh multiply IN dan tinsa II nav
b distesasins - b oct Of employment.
bot to ~ that lack Of employuent
nakes tvtcs as'many nemben sick n
carrying II . little far. We vast to
warn the memb~rs Of this union
against permitting an undue Increase
Of SILK claims due principally TO the
fsct that morn member are NJ any
time "ut Of WORK. Remember that the
BENEFITS were created for the assis.. nee
Of the union and that Il Was never IN.
tended that the union should te sacri-
6ced 10 Its tPDefffs or to unworthy
claims On the same