Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IN GREAT BRITAINSource: Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vol. 3, No. 5 (NOVEMBER,1916), pp. 65-68Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of LaborStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41823184 .

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MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 65

not less than one year if not otherwise specified in the agreement. A collective agreement is defined as an agreement between an employer cr an association of employers and a trade-union, trade federation, or similar association of workmen affecting those conditions of work which may be made the subject matter of an ordinary contract of labor. Anything presumed or understood in a collective agreement, and concerning which disputes may arise, shall at arbitration be understood as implying what is actually the case in similar occupa- tions or in the same locality for which the agreement is applicable.

Section 6 of the proposed law provides that during the continuance of the collective agreement, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the agreement, no employer or employee or association of such who is bound by the agreement, shall attempt a strike or lock- out or similar breach of the agreement the purpose of which is to secure a change in the agreement, to enforce an interpretation of its nature or legal effect, or to secure changes in working conditions con- templated to become effective after the stated term of the agreement.

The proposed law accepts the principle of compulsory investiga- tion by prohibiting a strike unless he has given notice of at least seven days. The law also prohibits a strike for a period of two days after notification of the purpose of a conciliator to intervene for the settlement of the dispute.

The breach of a collective agreement or of the provisions of this law is apparently not made a criminal offense but is made subject to a fine, the measure of which is the nature of the fault and the injury caused. If several persons are involved in the breach of an agreement, then the amount of the fine is assessed according to the degree of culpability on the part of each.

A special arbitration tribunal is to be appointed by the Crown, consisting of seven members and including representatives of both employers and employees.

If enacted, this law would repeal the existing conciliation act of December 31, 1906, and become applicable on January 1, 1918.

EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IN GREAT BRITAIN.

The British scheme of insurance against unemployment under Part II of the National Insurance Act, 1911, went into effect July 15, 1912. A description of this scheme, as amended by the National In- surance (Part II Amendment) Act, 1914, appeared in the Monthly Keview for July, 1916. Its objects as there shown are to provide compulsory unemployment insurance for workmen in certain speci- fied trades and to encourage voluntary insurance against unemploy- ment by money grants from State funds to associations of persons in all trades and occupations paying out-of-work benefits.

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66 MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The trades compulsorily insured under, the act of 1911 are as fol- lows :

1. Building trades . - Construction, alteration, repair, decoration, or demolition of buildings, including manufacture of wood fittings commonly made in builders' workshops.

2. Construction of works . - Construction, reconstruction, or alter- ation of railroads, docks, harbors, canals, embankments, bridges, piers, or other works of construction.

3. Shipbuilding . - Construction, alteration, repair, or decoration of ships, boats, or other craft by persons other than members of ship crews, and manufacture of wood fittings commonly made in ship- yards.

4 . Mechanical engineering . - Including manufacture of ordnance and firearms.

o. Iron founding , whether included under foregoing headings or not.

6. Construction of vehicles. - Construction, repair, and decoration of vehicles.

/'. Saw mUllng (including machine woodwork ) carried on in con- nection with any other insured trade or of a kind commonly so car- ried on.

Foremen other than manual workmen, clerks, apprentices, and per- sons under 16 years of age are excluded.

Additional amendments to the principal act materially extending the scheme for compulsory insurance against unemployment were passed March 16, 1915, and July 19, 1916.

The amending act of 1915 extends the application of the scheme to workmen employed abroad during the present war and for one year thereafter, in the trades insured under the act of 1911, on work connected with or arising out of the war.

The amending act of 1916, known as the National Insurance (Part II ) (Munition Workers) Act, 1916, provides for temporary insurance against unemplojnment of the following additional groups of work- men :

(1) Workmen engaged on or in connection with munitions work as definii by the Munitions of War Acts, 1915 and 1916, except such classes of such work as the board of trade may by order exclude. Munitions work, according to the definition referred to, may be briefly described as the manufacture or repair of any articles in- tended or adapted for use in war, or parts of such articles, and any materials specified in orders made by the Minister of Munitions. Up to July 18, 1916, such orders had included balloon fabric, con- structional steel, fire brick, gin ss for constructional purposes, glass for optical purposes, lead compounds, magnesite brick, materials re-

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MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 67

quired for or for use in the manufacture of explosives, silica brick, worked timber, and card clothing.

(2) All workpeople in the following trades, whether engaged in munitions work or not :

1. The manufacture of ammunition, fireworks, and explosives. 2. The manufacture of chemicals, including oils, lubricants, soap,

candles, paints, colors, and varnish. 3. The manufacture of metals and the manufacture or repair of

metal goods. 4. The manufacture of rubber and goods made therefrom. 5. The manufacture of leather and leather goods. 6. The manufacture of bricks, cement, and artificial stone and

other artificial building materials. 7. Sawmilling, including machine woodwork, and the manufacture

of wooden cases. In any establishment where some workmen are insured under the

act of 1916, any other workman may, with his employer's consent, be treated as if he were employed in a trade insured under the act.

The Board of Trade may further extend by order the provisions of the act of 1916 to any other trade or branch of a trade in which a substantial amount of munitions work or other work for war purposes is carried on. The extension of the insurance to new trades and to munitions work by the act of 1916, as has been stated, is temporary only. Liability of employers and workmen to pay con- tributions is to continue for a period to be determined by the Board of Trade but not longer than three years from the end of the present war or five years from September 4, 1916, whichever period is the longer. The right to receive unemployment benefits is to continue for a further six months or for such further period as the board may fix.

Any deficiency in the amount of the unemployment fund when benefits cease to be payable under the act of 1916 is to be paid from Government funds. The provisions of the principal act as to con- tributions and unemployment benefits are not subject to modifica- tion in connection with the act of 1916 unless such modification would have been necessary if the latter act had not been passed.

In determining the question of insurability the nature of the work in which the workpeople are engaged, rather than the business of their employer, must be considered. Such questions are deter- mined by an umpire appointed by the Crown.

Workpeople employed in the trades insured against unemploy- ment under the act of 1911 are not affected by the new act.

Under à regulation made in 1912, which also applies to workmen insured under the act of 1916, where a workman has been employed

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68 MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

by one employer partly in and partly not in an insured trade and contributions have, by arrangement between the employer and work- man, been paid as if the whole employment were in an insured trade, such contributions are deemed as having been duly paid in respect of employment in an insured trade.

The following provisions applying to employers and workpeople in the trades insured under the act of 1911 do not apply to those insured under the act of 1916 :

(1) Refunds to employers of 3 shillings (73 cents) for each work- man for whom at least 45 contributions have been paid during the insurance year; (2) refunds to each workman, who has made 500 contributions and has reached the age of 60, of all his contributions, less what he may have received as unemployment benefit; and (3) exemptions from paying contributions, both for workmen system- atically working short time and their employers, where it appears to the Board of Trade that there is exceptional unemployment.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION INVESTIGATION COMMISSION, VIRGINIA.

At its late session (1916) the Virginia Legislature had before it a bill for a workmen's compensation law, but in lieu of its enact- ment the governor was authorized to appoint a commission to inves- tigate and after examining the laws of the various States upon the subject, " to recommend to the next general assembly such legislation as, having regard to the peculiar conditions of Virginia, will do jus- tice to both employers and employees." The members are to serve without compensation and without provision for expenses.

Appointments made by the governor in accordance with this reso- lution are as follows:

Hon. C. O'Connor Goolrick, of Fredericksburg, Va. Lee Long, general manager of Clinchfield Coal Corporation,

Dante, Va. C. H. Perry, of State Federation of Labor, Norfolk, Va. C. E. Michaels, president Virginia Bridge Co., Roanoke, Va. R. S. Barbour, manufacturer, South Boston, Va. Frank Krück, treasurer Central Trade and Labor Council, Rich-

mond, Va. II. M. Cousins, of Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Richmond,

Va.

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