The Local USA 829 Pension Fund is a “defined benefit” fund. A member who becomes “vested” by accruing 5 or more vesting service credits - one credit per year - is guaranteed to receive a pension when they reach retirement age. The pension amount will be guaranteed for as long as the member lives. The actual amount of their pension is calculated with a combination of years of service credits and an additional percentage multiplier based on every dollar that goes into the Fund on the member's behalf during their career. Thus the more a member works, the higher their eventual pension will be.

To qualify for Welfare benefits - i.e. Health Insurance - a member must have enough contributions made on their behalf by their employer(s). Participants cannot pay for their own insurance; the contributions must come from qualified employers. Very generally, Welfare benefits include coverage for doctor's and hospital visits, prescription drug coverage, dental coverage, an optical benefit (every two years) and life insurance coverage of $10,000 per eligible participant.

To qualify for Single Coverage (the member/participant only) an individual must have an employer’s Welfare Fund contributions of $925 or more in a 6-month eligibility period for the succeeding 6-month benefit period; or $1,850 or more in a six-month eligibility period for the succeeding 12-month benefit period.

To qualify for Family Coverage, the necessary employer’s Welfare Fund contributions are: $1,500 or more in a 6-month eligibility period for the succeeding 6-month benefit period; or $3,000 or more in a 6-month eligibility period for the succeeding 12-month benefit period.

(NOTE: Pension & Welfare benefits, eligibility and contribution requirements are constantly being reviewed and adjusted. All information above is current as of October 1, 2010. But members are strongly advised to contact the Financial Office or ASO for the most current information. The info above is intended only as a general guideline for non-members, not definitive information!)  

The Funds are administered by Administrative Services Only (ASO). The P&W Fund administrator is Camille McMahon.

       ASO P&W phone: 877-999-3555 
       ASO P&W fax: 516-396-5593

       To send a general e-mail to ASO: ASO General E-mail

The Funds are an independent entity governed by a Board of Trustees made up of equal numbers of Employer and Union Trustees. There are four (4) Union P&W Trustees, who are members' liaisons to the Funds and are available to members if they have questions or problems regarding any aspect of their benefits that cannot be resolved with ASO. Any of the Union's P&W Trustees can be contacted via e-mail by clicking on their name below:

       Michael McBride    •    Nancy Orr    •    F. Mitchell Dana    •    Cecilia Friederichs
 

LOCAL 829 401(k) RETIREMENT PLAN  

Upon initial enrollment with the 401(k) Plan, the participant will be sent a packet of information from Vanguard detailing each of their investment options, as well as a PIN number to access Vanguard’s automated system.
 
The 401(k) Plan is also administered by ASO, and participants can check on their contributions at the ASO website: http://www.asonet.com/. Donna Roche and Ben Birnbaum are the 401(k) Fund contacts at ASO.

        ASO 401(k) phone: 877-999-3555 
        ASO 401(k) fax: 516-396-5593

        To send a general e-mail to ASO: ASO General E-mail  

IATSE NATIONAL ANNUITY FUNDS    

Certain, though not all, USA 829 agreements also require an employer to make contributions to the IATSE National Annuity Fund. These funds are invested with Prudential and the participant may self-direct their contributions into the various funds available.

There is much valuable information available at the IATSE Annuity Fund website:

        https://www.iatsenbf.org/documents/annuity