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October - November 2004

$1 Billion and Counting
Union Benefits Offer the Key to a Secure Future

Creating an income stream – a guaranteed pension benefit – that would allow BAC members to retire with dignity was the goal of the IU’s officers and its signatory contractors when they created the Bricklayers and Trowel Trades International Pension Fund (IPF) more than 30 years ago. The 2003 Annual Report released this fall and mailed to all participants clearly demonstrates that this goal has been met.

In 2003, IPF reached an important milestone, paying out a cumulative billion dollars in benefits to retired members and their beneficiaries, and the Fund’s assets rose to almost $1.2 billion. “With more than 90,000 members in participating Locals and 22,000 retirees, IPF has made great progress toward our goal of providing a better life for active members, retirees, and their beneficiaries,” says BAC President John J. Flynn.

While the defined benefit program provided by IPF remains the International’s primary retirement income program, other programs have been added over the years to give members more ways to save for retirement in pre-tax dollars. These programs include the Retirement Savings Plan (an annuity funded through negotiated hourly contributions) and the more flexible BACSAVE 401(k) Plan.

Members of Locals that participate in the 401(k) plan have the option of reducing their individual tax burden by deferring a portion of their current wages until after retirement into an individual 401(k) account. Contributions to a member’s individual 401(k) account can range from as little as 25 cents to as much as $6.25 per hour, as long as total contributions don’t exceed $14,000 per year (maximum contributions per year specified by the IRS in 2005).

To aid participants with their investment decisions, the BACSAVE 401(k) Plan offers 12 different investment options varying from a conservative “Stable Value Fund" to a more aggressive “Large Company Growth Fund.” The Plan also allows for hardship withdrawals, as defined by the IRS, for major life events including the purchase of a primary residence, tuition assistance, excessive medical expenses, eviction/foreclosure prevention, or funeral expenses.

Offering programs to maximize members’ retirement income is only one area of focus, however. Ensuring that members receive credit for all contributions earned during their work lives is another. The International Reciprocal Agreements were designed to ensure that members that travel for work (see article page 3) receive credit for the hours they work, and the new state-of-the-art electronic reciprocity transfer system that will go into effect next year will improve the speed and accuracy of the transfer of this member data and contributions.

IPF’s progress is particularly noteworthy given the trend in recent years towards cutting workers’ benefits or not offering any at all. In fact, a survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, as part of BAC’s Millennium Morning Project, found that less than a fourth of non-union masonry contractors offer their masonry craftworkers a retirement plan. Local 1 Florida retiree Clyde Wigglesworth, who’s enjoying a secure retirement because of his BAC benefits sums up the situation, “When I see younger people working non-union it troubles me. There’s no future in it. Without retirement benefits and health care, life is very difficult.”

To learn more about IPF and other ways to guarantee a secure retirement, visit www.bacweb.org and click on “Member Benefits,” contact IPF toll free at 1-888-880-8222, or write or email:

David F. Stupar
Executive Director, IPF
1776 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 750
Washington, D.C. 20006
dstupar@ipfweb.org

Look in the next edition of the Journal for more on reciprocity and how it works.