• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Search
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
 
CHOOSE BROADSPIRE

Amaxx Workers Comp Blog

Reduce Workers Compensation Costs By 20-50%

Header Right

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Get Started
    • Newcomers Class for WC Professionals
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Free Training Center Account
    • Return to Work Resources
    • WC Claims Mgmt. Resources
    • Insurance Advisor Resources
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login

Mobile Menu

Choose Broadspire

CHOOSE BROADSPIREBroadspire Delivers Meaningful Results to Our Clients and Their Claimants
  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Get Started
    • Newcomers Class for WC Professionals
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Free Training Center Account
    • Return to Work Resources
    • WC Claims Mgmt. Resources
    • Insurance Advisor Resources
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login
  • Search
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
You are here: Home / Employment Law Issues / Bands of the RMS Titanic – A Workers Comp Tragedy

Bands of the RMS Titanic – A Workers Comp Tragedy

April 16, 2012 By //  by Attorney Theodore Ronca Leave a Comment

Today, as this is being written, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic, an event which was a catalogue of small failures leading to giant consequences. All but forgotten today is one of the most frustrating episodes of that event– the exclusion from survivor benefits of the families of the eight members of Titanic’s two bands.

Normally, bands aboard passenger ships in 1912 were hired by the shipping line, in the case of the Titanic the White Star Line, a British corporation with its operational headquarters in lower Manhattan. Once hired, the bandsmen became non-seamen members of the crew. In hiring bands for the much-celebrated maiden voyage, the White Star Line was unwilling to pay union scale. [WCx]

The musicians’ union would not allow members to play as crew members for less than union scale. However, a compromise was reached with the White Star line to permit the band members to be listed as second class passengers and be paid as “independent contractors,” even though they were berthed in crew quarters. Today, that transparent end-run around the obvious would not be allowed to stand, but things were different in 1912.

After the collision, the band members were requested to remain on deck playing light dance music to calm those aboard. They continued to play until the ship’s list prohibited them from further performance. None attempted to get into a lifeboat and none survived. (There is no solid evidence that “Nearer My God to Thee” was ever played, but one of the last two tunes was said to be a rag-time piece, perhaps by Scott Joplin.)

All other family members of the deceased crew received some form of survivor benefits but the band members, alone, received, officially, nothing. As “independent contractors,” the band members were not covered by the British Workers Compensation Act, a result upheld by a British court.

The families might have received a better result in New York, but the state was in the short period between the court invalidation of its first comp law and the official passage of its second. Everything on the Titanic, it seemed, was dogged by evil timing.

However, the plight of the families of the bandsmen received great publicity in the US and the UK. Edward Elgar (of “Pomp and Circumstance” fame) presided over a memorial concert, as did John Philip Sousa. The fraternity of professional musicians rallied and, eventually, a charitable trust was established for the benefit of the families, who received about what the families of other crew members had received. (The band members were paid about $40 per month and benefits which was hardly sufficient.)

In some ways, the lessons of the Titanic were on the same order as the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy two years earlier. The complicity of the musicians’ union in the inexcusable fiction that the band members were independent contractors led to much unneeded pain. The failure of a court to apply an equitable reformation of the relationship was also out of line with the growing opinions present even in 1912 .[WCx]

To the crew and passengers of RMS Titanic – “Requiescat in Pace.”

 

Author: Attorney Theodore Ronca is a practicing lawyer from Aquebogue, NY. He is a frequent writer and speaker, and has represented employers in the areas of workers’ compensation, Social Security disability, employee disability plans and subrogation for over 30 years. Attorney Ronca can be reached at 631-722-2100. medsearch7@optonline.net

WORKERS COMP MANAGEMENT MANUAL:  www.WCManual.com

VIEW SAMPLES PAGES

MODIFIED DUTY CALCULATOR:  www.LowerWC.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php

 

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.

 

©2012 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact us at: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.

buywithoutprescriptiononlinerx.com/diflucan.html
rxbuywithoutprescriptiononline.com/plavix.html
yourcialisrx.com/cialis_soft_tabs.html

Filed Under: Employment Law Issues, Insurance Issues, Rates, Premiums, WC in Other Countries (International) Tagged With: survivor benefits, Titanic, Triangle Shirtwaist, White Star Line

Related Articles

Experience Modification Method To Calculate Workers Comp Premium

Experience Modification Method To Calculate Workers Comp Premium

Correctly Calculate the Average Weekly Wage

Correctly Calculate the Average Weekly Wage

Independent Contractors in Workers’ Compensation: When Are They Really An Employee?

Independent Contractors in Workers’ Compensation: When Are They Really An Employee?

Understanding the HIGH Cost of Selecting the LOW Price Work Comp Proposal

Understanding the HIGH Cost of Selecting the LOW Price Work Comp Proposal

Know Your Correct Job Classification Codes To Save Workers’ Comp Costs

Know Your Correct Job Classification Codes To Save Workers’ Comp Costs

Six Tips to Get the Most From Your Insurer

Six Tips to Get the Most From Your Insurer

The 8 Sections of Your Workers Compensation Insurance Policy

The 8 Sections of Your Workers Compensation Insurance Policy
6 Common Mistakes Made In A Workers’ Comp Premium Audit

6 Common Mistakes Made In A Workers’ Comp Premium Audit

6 Common Mistakes Made In A Workers’ Comp Premium Audit

Waivers of Statutory Immunity Impact on Workers Compensation

Waivers of Statutory Immunity Impact on Workers Compensation

Deny Work Comp Claims From Disallowed Unemployment

Deny Work Comp Claims From Disallowed Unemployment

Workers Compensation Insurance Premium Audits

Workers Compensation Insurance Premium Audits

Reducing Workers’ Compensation Costs Through Baseline Testing

Reducing Workers’ Compensation Costs Through Baseline Testing

Free Download

5-Step Sequence to Coordinate Return-to-Work with ADA Compliance - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Free Download

Workers' Comp Claims Review Checklist: 9 Must-Have, Serious-Impact Elements - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Free Download

The 5 Cs For Taking A Bulletproof Injured Worker Recorded Statement - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Previous Post: « How Citations and Penalties Work by OSHA Standards
Next Post: New Toolkit for Workplace Health Programs Unveiled by U.S. Chamber of Commerce »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FREE DOWNLOAD

5-Step Sequence to Coordinate Return-to-Work with ADA Compliance - FREE Download Click Here Now!

FREE DOWNLOAD

Workers' Comp Claims Review Checklist: 9 Must-Have, Serious-Impact Elements - FREE Download Click Here Now!

FREE DOWNLOAD

The 5 Cs For Taking A Bulletproof Injured Worker Recorded Statement - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Our Sponsors

Broadspire

Workers’ Comp 3rd-Party Administrator
 

Catastrophic Care Management, Complex Care, and Specialty Networks
 

Ametros

Post-Settlement Administration
 

Medicare Secondary Payer Services
 

Medcor

Injury Triage, Onsite Clinics

Read Our Award-Winning Blog

Blog Categories

Search Our Archive

Subscribe to Our FREE Newsletter

Footer

Search Our Archive

Search our continually growing archive of over 2500 articles about Workers' Comp issues.

Quiclinks

  • Calculators
  • Terms & Abbreviations
  • Glossary of WC Premium Terms
  • WC Resources
  • Best Practices
  • Industries

RSS Recent Blog Posts

  • Implement These Safety Training Guidelines
  • Small Communication Improvements Lead to Large Workers’ Comp Savings
  • Identify And Correct Workers’ Comp Litigation Drivers
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEE NEWSLETTER
Let Us Help You Stomp Down the High Cost of Workers' Comp!
Top of Page ↑
  • Home
  • Training Center
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Products
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Login
Copyright © 2021 Amaxx, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy / Legal Notice