Address Changes should be forwarded to;
Sheet Metal Workers LU 49
2300 Buena Vista SE, Suite 110
Albuquerque, NM 87110
or e-mail: mcalderon@smwlu49.org
or fax to 505-266-5879
www.southwestservicetpa.com
Fill out the "Enrollment Form" and mail to:
Southwest Service Administrators, Inc
4775 Indian School Road, NE Suite 105
Albuquerque, NM 87110
You or your spouse may Contact:
Nicolle Taylor, or Maryann Udel with any questions you have related to your 401(k) Plan.
For more information you may contact this office
between 9AM and 5PM at (818) 888-8873 or (800) 874-4015
4775 Indian School Road, NE Suite 105
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-265-8422
505-266-9358
800-432-6636
401K
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement an employer will make contributions on your behalf to the Plan. A member may also elect to do a voluntary contribution. The Plan is administered by a Board of Trustees made up of any equal number of Union and Employer representatives in accordance with the Agreement and Declaration of Trust. [1] The current Employee Trustees include Raymond N Diaz, Garry Willis and Ritchie Howles and the Employer Trustees include David McCoy, Richard Montgomery and Alan Weitzel.
The administrators for the Plan is Southwest Service Administrators. Questions regarding changes to the investments, beneficiary changes, corrections of any kind, account statements, withdrawals, rolling over of benefits and any other similar questions may be directed to the Administrator or to Innnovative Employee Benefit Programs by contacting Michael J. Bullock or Angela Reinhard both Benefit Consultants. [2] Again, this is a general scope of the Plan and by no means should you base any decisions from this explanation. Accordingly, a member's rights can only be determined by consulting the Plan Rules and the prospectuses prepared by the companies offering each investment choice. [3]
All current members have submitted a completed enrollment form and new members will fill out and endorse an enrollment form when filling out a new member application packet. When a member begins to work for any contributing employer that employer makes contributions on his or her behalf. Once the member's account (an account established for each employee) has been established he will begin to receive account statements. There is a mandatory contribution by employers and an additional member voluntary contribution (with a deferral limit) can be made that can be diverted from his or her base wage or vacation benefit. The following forms will describe the method of diverting the voluntary contributions. Under the current operation of the Plan, they are allowed to establish a salary reduction rate twice a year by submitting a new enrollment form to the Union office during the months of February and August to be effective beginning the months of April and October. The voluntary contribution rate that is selected will remain in force until you change your salary reduction rate. [4]
Other aspects of the Plan allow for the rollover of the benefit funds and hardship withdrawals are permitted. Benefit distribution can be further explored by attaining the Plan Rules. As a participant in the Sheet Metal Workers' Local 49 Defined Contribution Plan, a member is entitled to certain rights and protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). [5] A claim or application for benefits, in writing, shall be submitted to the administrative office for review and settlement. Other documents available to the member from Southwest Service Administrators Inc. or the Union office are:
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Trust Agreement.
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Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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Plan Document, policies and all amendments.
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Form 550 or full annual report filed with the IRS and Department of Labor.
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List of contributing employers and their addresses.
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Summary Plan Description Sheet Metal Workers' Defined Contribution Plan
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Innovative Employee Benefit Programs, 26565 West Agoura Rd., Calabacas, CA 91302
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Summary Plan Description Sheet Metal Workers' Defined Contribution Plan
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Summary Plan Description Sheet Metal Workers' Defined Contribution Plan, pg. 6
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Summary Plan Description Sheet Metal Workers' Defined Contribution Plan, pg. 16
Edward F. Carlough Plaza
601 North Fairfax Street Suite 500
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-739-7000
703-683-0932
Fax 800-231-4622
This plan offers the members of Local 49 benefits and provisions for retirement and death benefits. The entire Plan is financed by employer contributions. Labor and management established this plan in collective bargaining, worked together to formulate the details, and will continue to work together to keep the Plan operating on a sound and effective basis. [1]
Members are vested in the Plan with five years of continuous service. After members become vested, they may come in to the office and elect to fill out and send in a vesting application for the purpose of estimating benefits. The Plan administrators encourage those members that are near the time of retirement to fill out the vesting application. The advantage to doing so is that the completed vesting application has all the data that is required for the pension benefit application, on file, and will be activated by simply calling the Plan office and advising them that the member is ready to retire.
One of the eligibility requirements for each type of pension provided by the Plan is that the members earn a certain amount of Pension Credit or Years of Service. The Pension Credit is also used in determining the amount of your monthly benefit. [2]
There are several types of pension benefits such as; Normal Retirement, Early Retirement, Special Early Retirement and a Disability Pension. The Plan offers several forms of payment options. There are many features to the different benefits and therefore cannot be adequately explained in this brief synopsis of the retirement benefit. The Plan also provides a Death Benefit payable before or after retirement and a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) benefit. The handbook, with complete details for the Plan and its benefits, can be obtained in the Union office or by calling or writing the Plan office.
Included, as a model, is a copy of the application. It is advisable to answer all the questions thoroughly and as completely as possible. A member is free to contact the Pension Plan office at the numbers listed above or contact the Business Manager for Local 49 for additional information or assistance in filling out the application. The Union office staff is always available to assist in ascertaining data necessary to complete much of the required information.
It is strongly recommended that the members attain their own copy of the Plan Handbook, read it in its entirety and keep it with other important documents. Although this handbook describes many important details of the plan, it does not provide for interpretations of the terms of the Plan. Those determinations will come directly by the administrators and trustees of the Plan.
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Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund Plan A Handbook 1997 Edition
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Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund Plan A Handbook 1997 Edition
Edward F. Carlough Plaza
601 North Fairfax Street Suite 400
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-739-7250
703-549-9613
Fax 800-858-0354
SASMI
SASMI is a trust independent fund or a set up to stabilize employment and earnings in the sheet metal Industry and to protect you against related loss or interruption of earning power. [1]
SASMI is a living insurance providing certain benefits to sheet metal workers. Any sheet metal worker that is covered by a collective bargaining agreement or a participation agreement requiring contributions to s automatically becomes a participant in SASMI.
Initial eligibility begins when a member has accrued 1,200 hours within 12 consecutive months, or 2000 hours within 24 consecutive months, or 2,800 hours within any period of time which contributions have been made for your work by your Employer(s). Initial Eligibility allows you to receive up-to four (4) Stabilization Periods of Underemployment or Supplemental Unemployment Benefits as well as Health Benefits. [2]
There are two Stabilization Periods within the year. The first occurs between January 1 st through June 30 th and the second occurs between July 1 st and December 31 st . The first six months of the year is Stabilization A period and the second six months of the year is Stabilization B period. The maximum benefit is 180 hours (before taxes and any offsets for Supplemental Unemployment or Health Benefits.)
A member may be eligible for the Underemployment Benefit if he or she has satisfied the minimum work requirements for our Group Hours. Group Hours are classified into one of four groups based on the average hours worked and is periodically classified. The average hours worked by active employees in the local union in the prior year or another period based on availability of data.
A member will forfeit the Underemployment Benefit:
if he or she turns down an offer of suitable employment more than once during a Stabilization Period,
refuses to travel reasonable distances to secure suitable employment,
is underemployed and does not enroll for advanced journeyman training,
or turns down a job offer which would make use o of the skills you acquired in a training program after completing a training program. [3]
A member may apply for the Underemployment Benefit by obtaining an application from the Local or from SASMI. The member has 90 days from the last day of the stabilization period in which to apply and all claims are processed by SASMI in order of receipt date.
It is important the member be made aware that he or she must account for all 26 weeks of the Stabilization Period including time missed due to illness or disability. Participants must include copies of all their State Unemployment Compensation records, and if not eligible, a copy of the determination from the State Unemployment office indicating why he/she is not eligible. If applying for the Stabilization Period B, he/she must also provide a copy of their W2 tax form with the application.
SASMI also advances payments for health and welfare coverage. Eligibility begins after the member has satisfied the minimum work requirements previously outlined. The benefit is paid when the member has exhausted the Sheet Metal Workers Health and Welfare reserve bank of hours. Coverage may continue for up to eighteen (18) months even if no SASMI contributions are being made for your work during that eighteen (18) month period, as long as you are not permanently disabled. [4]Health and Welfare Benefits claims are made by the Trust office, when the members' hour bank has been exhausted, or is short of the required 117 hours.
A Short Hours list is forwarded to the Union by the Health and Welfare Trust office for the Business Manager's review and authorization. The SASMI eligibility, of the member, is determined and the list is then faxed to the Health and Welfare Trust office. [5] The Trust office will then forward the SASMI application to the Local, the Business Manager will sign it, and the original copy is mailed to SASMI with a fax copy to the Trust office.
Another benefit available to eligible members is the Travel Benefit. SASMI pays Travel Benefits for travel to areas in need of sheet metal workers between local unions or within the same local to help keep working. Because there are so many requirements for this benefit, all applicants must make application for this benefit by contacting the dispatcher.
The Severance Benefit is the final benefit covered by SASMI. SASMI also provides a Severance Benefit as a reward for service and to ease your departure from the Sheet Metal Industry. [6]
The requirements for this benefit are as follows:
The member must satisfy the minimum work requirements
The member must have been an active SASMI participant on or after July 1, 1992.
The member must have at least two years of Future Service Credit.
The member is separated from work in the sheet metal industry while eligible for benefits from SASMI on or after July 1, 1992.
The member does not work or seek work in the sheet metal industry for a minimum of twelve months. (Applies to Retirees).
The member has been absent from SASMI work and no contributions have been received for your work by SASMI for a minimum of twelve (12) consecutive months.
A member is not eligible for Severance Benefit if the departure from SASMI work is a result of any of the following factors.
The member accepts any employment in the sheet metal industry from an employer who is not part to a collective bargaining agreement with the SMWIA.
The member leaves work covered by SASMI and becomes the sole proprietor, partner or owner of a business in the sheet metal industry which does not participate in SASMI. [7]
A member may apply for this benefit may by obtaining a claim form from SASMI or the Local Union. The application must be filed with SASMI no later than twenty-three (23) months after you permanently separate from work with the employers contributing to SASMI or it will be lost forever.
This benefit may be paid to a member's designated beneficiary(ies), therefore it is very important to make certain that every member has signed a beneficiary designation card or has a health and welfare enrollment with designation of beneficiary form on file.
All of the eligibility requirements, the calculation of benefits, the application requirements, and all other data regarding SASMI may be found in the Summary Plan Description and the Amended and Restated Rules and Regulations.
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 5
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 6
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 8
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 10
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Word Document, Southwest Service File, ShortHrs.doc
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 12
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SASMI Summary Plan Description Handbook, Page 12
