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With the rehabilitation plan finalized, participating employer F.W. Honerkamp Co. and its employee union proceeded to negotiate successor collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) to those that were set to expire. They considered the rehabilitation plan’s schedules as well as the possibility of Honerkamp’s withdrawal from the fund. As part of that consideration, Honerkamp requested and the trustees provided an estimate of Honerkamp’s withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA). On July 22, 2009, Honerkamp sent the union a “Last, Best and Final Offer” for each facility. Both offers provided that, as of August 1 of that year, Honerkamp would withdraw from the fund and create instead a 401(k) retirement plan for the company’s employees. The trustees of the Local 138 Pension Trust Fund sued, seeking to compel Honerkamp to make retroactive and prospective contributions under the rehabilitation plan’s default schedule. A district court granted summary judgment to Honerkamp, which the 2nd Circuit affirmed. The opinion in Trustees of the Local 138 Pension Trust Fund v. F.W. Honerkamp Co. Inc. is here.
With the rehabilitation plan finalized, participating employer F.W. Honerkamp Co. and its employee union proceeded to negotiate successor collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) to those that were set to expire. They considered the rehabilitation plan’s schedules as well as the possibility of Honerkamp’s withdrawal from the fund. As part of that consideration, Honerkamp requested and the trustees provided an estimate of Honerkamp’s withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA).
On July 22, 2009, Honerkamp sent the union a “Last, Best and Final Offer” for each facility. Both offers provided that, as of August 1 of that year, Honerkamp would withdraw from the fund and create instead a 401(k) retirement plan for the company’s employees.
The trustees of the Local 138 Pension Trust Fund sued, seeking to compel Honerkamp to make retroactive and prospective contributions under the rehabilitation plan’s default schedule. A district court granted summary judgment to Honerkamp, which the 2nd Circuit affirmed.
Rebecca Mooreeditors@plansponsor.com