ments are in the neighborhood of $1 per month; some are as low as 30 cents.

If revenue needs for which the union has not planned arise, either the international or the local may be empowered to levy an assessment. Finally, fees, fines, and returns on investment are minor sources of union revenue.

Initiation Fees

The amount charged by unions as a requirement for admission to membership has been discussed widely by all interested parties. Initiation fees, at least historically, have been only partly designed to provide union revenue. Some unions consider initiation fees to be in effect a lump-sum payment for the benefits which new members will enjoy; improved wages and working conditions which the unions won over the years are examples of such benefits. Florence Peterson notes that "historically, high initiation fees have been a means of controlling the intake into the union as well as into the trade." She states that unions charging high fees point to their stabilizing effect on employment for members "by acting as a deterrent to large influxes of new workers into the trade during temporary booms, for once new members are accepted they not only share in the job opportunities during the temporary boom, but also claim rights to jobs when jobs become scarce."

In recent years, with the change in the structure of unions, initiation charges have become essentially designed for revenue purposes, even before Congress legislated on "excessive or discriminatory" fees. Sumner Slichter observes, with reference to unions charging relatively high fees, that revenue is probably a more important consideration than membership limitation because (1) high fees can usually be paid on the installment plan, and (2) many men will be willing to pay even a high fee as long as union membership is of substantial assistance in obtaining employment.5

No cases involving "excessive" initiation fees have been decided by the National Labor Relations Board, although rulings on "discriminatory" fees have been made. In one NLRB case, a union was held to charge discriminatory fees because nonunion workers who had been employed for more than a year, were required to pay $15 after a union-shop clause had been secured,

while newer employees with less service were charged $5.0

The amount of initiation fee in locals affiliated with 19 of the internationals surveyed is fixed by the parent body. Other internationals give locals differing degrees of discretion in setting fees. Minimum initiation fees are specified in 26 constitutions, while only 6 contained maximum or upper limits. Finally, ranges within which locals may establish fees are found in 22 international constitutions.

The predominance of minima gives many locals a large degree of discretion which has been abused in some instances. Examples of high initiation fees in the past range from $500 to $3,000.7

In terms of minimum fees as little as $1 may be charged in three AFL unions. Most frequently, however, the lower limit is $5 (four AFL, one CIO, and two independent unions). A minimum entrance fee of $50 is required in one AFL and one CIO union. The six unions placing upper limits on fees are evenly divided among the AFL, CIO, and the independents (see table). Where ranges are prescribed, the lower limits are all less than $10; the upper limits vary from $5 to $100.

American Labor Unions, by Florence Peterson. New York, Harper & Bros., p. 124.

4 Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, sec. 8 (b) (5). This section defines as an unfair labor practice by a labor organization or its agents, a requirement that employees covered by union-shop agreements make payment, as a condition precedent to becoming union members, "a fee, in an amount which the Board finds excessive or discriminatory under all the circumstances. In making such a finding, the Board shall consider, among other relevant factors, the practices and customs of labor organizations in the particular industry, and the wages currently paid to the employees affected." Union Policies and Industrial Management, by Sumner H. Slichter. The Brookings Institution, 1941, p. 64. 699 NLRB No. 166.

The Closed Union and the Right to Work, by Ralph A. Newman. (In Columbia Law Review, January 1943, p. 42.) See also testimony by Corwin Edwards in Hearings before TNEC, Part 31-A, p. 18192 (76th Cong., 3d Sess.).

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Local unions are required to remit portions of the initiation fees to the international, according to most constitutions. Absolute amounts ranging from as little as 25 cents to a high of $50 are stated in 48 instances. However, the required amounts in 39 cases range from $1 to $5 with 19 in the modal $1 class. In 14 other unions, the parent organization receives a specified percentage of the locally determined fees-usually 25 or 50 percent.

Dues

Most international unions permit their local union affiliates to set the amount of membership dues within certain limits (see chart 2). In 80 international union constitutions, covering nearly 11 million members, local dues are not specified as fixed amounts.

The varying degrees of autonomy allowed locals in setting dues probably indicate the parent union's awareness of the variety of factors affecting local union expenditures. Where local autonomy generally prevails in negotiating agreements, local staff requirements may be relatively high for several reasons. The administration of agreements, i. e., costs involved in processing grievances and arbitration cases, may also differ from local to local. Again, it may be a question of whether member-financed local benefit programs are included in a local's dues structure. Some locals also provide an intensive educational program, local union journals, or other additional services, which likewise increase local costs. Finally, some local leaders raise the ability-to-pay argument in favor of local discretion, pointing out that wages of members often differ among locals.

In some international unions, differences in dues structure are based on levels of occupational skill, sex, and coverage under union-financed benefit programs. Unions using such criteria may charge journeymen higher dues than helpers or apprentices. In at least two AFL unionsthe Hatters and the United Garment Workersdues minima are lower for women. The higher dues usually collected from so-called beneficiary members (eligible and paying for benefits) generally exceed by $1 to $2 monthly the dues paid by nonbeneficiary members.

International constitutions generally set minimum dues standards, particularly where the per

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capita tax is specified. This places an effective "floor" under local dues. Since dues expressed as minimum amounts are most prevalent by far in the international union constitutions surveyed, a general statement here on exact dues established is precluded. Such minima are found particularly among AFL unions. Over 85 percent of AFL membership (representing more than 6 million members in 30 unions) and nearly half of the CIO unions (and half of its members) in the survey have prescribed dues minima; this principle also applies to the bulk of independent union membership.

Dues fixed as specified amounts rank next in importance in terms of workers covered. The large CIO Steelworkers Union accounts for nearly all of the slightly more than 1 million workers having fixed union dues.

Local dues falling within specified ranges are found in 12 unions, equally divided among the AFL, CIO, and independents. One union fixes a dues "ceiling" based on a maximum rate, and another bases dues on a sliding percentage scale of its members' total pay.

Dues limits set by internationals for locals may be lowered or exceeded under certain circumstances. They may be set lower if the plants are newly organized by locals; if membership is required in another union by virtue of employment; and if bargaining rights for certain members have not been won. Some unions permit higher rates if dues of established local affiliates are already higher at the time an international union constitution is adopted.

Union dues are generally higher than they were about 5 years ago when it was reported: "The large majority of union members are now paying dues of $1 a month, although a substantial number are paying $1.50, and some are paying as much as $2 and $2.50 a month dues." In recent years, expenditures of unions have been rising with the general rise in prices. Most union members now pay more than $1 monthly dues. In terms of minimum dues, the modal amount falls between $1.51 and $2 a month. Seven of the 10 unions in the fixed-dues group do not charge more than $2 and only one union fixes a rate of more than $5. Where ranges are specified, the maximum is $5;

• Unions may also set lower dues rates for the honorary membership usually offered at a nominal sum to retired or disabled members. Florence Peterson, op. cit.. p. 120.

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for the 12 unions in this group, the average midpoint is approximately $2.

Actual dues in the many unions with only minimum limits may be considerably higher than the specified minima. The following conclusion was reached by a writer on the labor movement: "The amount (of dues) varies from $1.50 to $5.00 a month, in the largest number of unions, with $2.00 and $4.00 respectively in the CIO and the AFL, the prevailing figures for most of the large unions. In some of the highly skilled crafts, union dues are much higher." 10

An interesting comparison between changes in dues and changes in wage rates has recently been made by the secretary-treasurer of the AFL Machinists. He states that IAM union dues have risen by 14 percent in the last 10 years as compared with a doubling of the prevailing hourly wage rate.11

MONTHLY LABOR

Unemployed members are a special problem with which unions have to deal in connection with dues. They could be dropped from membership or allowed to continue as members; in the latter case, they are enabled to carry considerable weight in union meetings during severe depressions. Although the solution varies, some unions require at least a token of financial obligation to the union.

More than half of all the unions in the study make special allowances for financial hardship of unemployed members and collect dues below usual levels or waive payments under such circumstances. Of the 47 unions with special provisions for unemployed members, about a third require some payment, usually from 10 cents to $1 for so-called "out-of-work" stamps. No payment is stipulated by 30 unions, although a few of these view the dues waiver as a temporary remission payable in whole or in part when a member is reemployed. The most frequent standard for determining dues waivers is for unemployed members to work less than 5 calendar days or 40 hours per month. Some unions provide special dues treatment only if the unemployment arises from circumstances beyond the member's control.

Per Capita Taxes

Per capita taxes-the amounts which locals remit each month to their parent international for an individual member-constitute the major form of income for international unions. In turn, these unions affiliated with the AFL or the CIO pay a tax for each of their members to their respective parent federation. In the AFL, this tax is 4 cents per month; in the CIO, 10 cents. In contrast to the flexibility allowed locals in determining their dues structure, the exact amount of per capita tax or methods for its precise computation are found in 83 of the 90 international constitutions analyzed. The 7 unions not in this group are all relatively small (10,000 or less members) and in most instances have no locals.

Per capita taxes of international unions have also risen since Florence Peterson reported 5 years ago that a "majority of constitutions

10 "Dollar Worth" of the Unions, by J. B. S. Hardman. (In The House of Labor. New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1951, p. 411.)

11 The Machinists Monthly Journal, November 1951, p. 324.

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stipulate per capita taxes from 30 to 50 cents a month, although a number have 60 and 75 cents monthly taxes. Some of the 'benefit' unions, composed of skilled craftsmen have per capita taxes of $1 to $2 per month." 12

The upward shift in per capita taxes is demonstrated in chart 3. Monthly per capita payments of 50 cents or less per member appear in only 20 constitutions covering about 2.5 million members of the nearly 12 million in the survey; 1 large AFL union accounts for almost half the members in this group. Most frequently, the per capita tax is over 50 cents. Per capita taxes of 44 unions with over 7 million members range from 55 cents to $1.25. The modal per capita tax of $1 is paid for over

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3 million members of locals affiliated with 9 AFL and 4 CIO international unions.

An interesting correlation exists between the amount of per capita tax and the provisions for special welfare payments. In the group of 76 constitutions specifying definite per capita amounts, 33 provide death benefits. A per capita tax of less than $1 is found in only about 1 of every 4 in this "benefit" group; the remainder charge $1 or more. In these 33 unions, all but 50,000 of over 5 million workers are AFL members. Disability benefits are paid by only 8 international unions, each receiving per capita payments of $1 or more monthly; 7 are AFL affiliates with a

12 Peterson, op. cit., p. 121.

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total membership of about 1.6 million. Retirement, sick, unemployment, and accident benefits, though less common, are also found in some unions irrespective of affiliation. A mention of homes for the aged and indigent appears in an AFL and an independent union constitution.13

Many AFL unions have carried over the tradition of providing benefits found in older fraternal organizations. Few references, however, to benefits are found in CIO constitutions. This is largely explained by prevailing conditions when CIO unions were formed. At that time, at least part of the responsibility of providing assistance to individuals was being assumed by government at all levels. This development in turn led to collective bargaining for such benefits.

Some international constitutions require that different amounts of per capita tax must be remitted for members who receive full benefits from the union as against those receiving "half" or no benefits. Variations based on skill and sex are also found. Provisions for unemployed members are even more liberal than those which apply in the case of dues.

Assessments

Assessments are often used by unions to provide revenue for requirements not previously anticipated. A thin dividing line may exist between dues or per capita tax and assessments under certain circumstances. When the United Automobile Workers (CIO) at its 1951 convention raised dues to a $2.50 monthly minimum and abolished all assessments, Emil Mazey, UAW secretarytreasurer, pointed out that in effect a dues increase had not been voted. He explained that in 1950 UAW members paid a sum for an emergency strike assessment which, if added to the then prevailing dues rate, amounted to the new rate approved by the convention.14

The matter of dues versus assessments may have gained added importance in view of the opinion of the NLRB that the Taft-Hartley Act's definition of a member's "good standing" does not encompass general assessments within the meaning of periodic dues and initiation fees as used in section 8(a) (3) (B).15 This opinion signifies that nonpayment of union assessments will not jeopardize a worker's employment opportunity under a union

shop agreement. Hence, unions attain better assurance that necessary operating costs will be met if they establish dues requirements which realistically anticipate their financial needs.

Assessments may be made by the international, by the local, or by intermediate bodies such as joint boards or councils which are usually composed of locals in related trades or in the same industry. Typically, a union body such as the executive board can initiate a levy; in some cases, membership approval by a referendum vote is also required.

Nearly a third of all the international unions in the study use assessments for strike or various welfare purposes. In some instances, the levy is used to supplement already existing funds when per capita tax allocations are inadequate. Assessments for strike aid and death benefits, in that order, receive the most mention, particularly among AFL unions. About 10 percent of the unions cite other reasons calling for assessments, such as funds for organizing work, legislative purposes, financing a convention, and maintaining the good standing and benefits of members in military service.

Funds can be raised by assessments for "necessary" or "emergency" purposes in more than half of the AFL and CIO affiliates and in more than a third of the independent unions in the study.

About one of every three international constitutions makes reference to assessments by local unions. Local unions also have their own rules pertaining to assessments. Joint bodies composed of many locals are also often permitted to ask for assessments, particularly in order to defray

expenses.

Charter fees of locals as well as fractional shares of reinstatement fees remitted by locals are other sources of international union income. Fines constitute an insignificant portion of revenues. Finally, union funds which are invested in Government securities, real estate, or financial institutions also provide union income.

18 A complete report of benefits paid by AFL unions is included in the Proceedings of the 70th Convention of the AFL, 1951 (pp. 150-154).

14 For debate on this issue, see Proceedings, Thirteenth Convention 1951 of the International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (CIO), Afternoon Session, April 2, 1951. 18 95 NLRB No. 80; sec. 8(a) (3) (B) of the Taft-Hartley Act states that no employer shall justify any discrimination against an employee for nonmembership in a labor organization "if he has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership."