Chicago Pipefitters Local 597

Nichole Linhardt, Administration Director, Chicago Pipefitters Local
Photograph by Matt Kalinowski

PLANSPONSOR: How would you describe your organization? What is its mission? Is there anything unique about its demographics?

Chicago Pipefitters: Pipefitters Local 597 has a rich history in building Chicago and the Chicagoland area, dating back to 1885. We offer a five-year apprenticeship program to train the very best welders, pipefitters and HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] technicians in the industry. We’re invested in our members and their families and strive to provide best-in-class benefits for them.

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

Chicago Pipefitters: On June 1, 2024, the board of trustees introduced a new benefit under the SECURE [Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement] 2.0 Act to help members save. Eligible members started receiving emergency savings fund contributions of $1 for every hour worked. The emergency savings fund contributions are a new negotiated benefit as part of the collective bargaining agreement between Chicago Pipefitters’ Local 597 and participating employers. To receive this new benefit, members are required to take action by opening an Empower Cash Account. Of the 4,300 members receiving this benefit, 4,000 have opened an account. The projected amount of additional contributions members will receive from this new benefit is approximately $8 million annually. Local 597 and Empower collaborated to send weekly communications to participants and provided education to members to inform members of this new benefit.

Additionally, we changed the plan’s investment fund lineup, changing share classes and decreasing expense ratios, resulting in more than $1.2 million in investment expense savings in 2024.

The fund’s administrative manager committed to serving on the inaugural Empower Taft-Hartley Advisory Board, which provides a select group of multiemployer industry leaders with the opportunity to advance new and innovative ideas, drive repeatable success through shared insights, influence legislative and regulatory proposals, and strengthen our retirement system by contributing to industry reform.

We offer in-person and virtual education meetings covering retirement planning topics relevant to members based on their life stage and stage of their union career. We also added participants’ pension benefit projection to the “Lifetime Income Score” members access via the Empower participant website, mobile app and quarterly statements. The estimated score shows participants their progress toward replacing income in retirement and is based on their estimated pension benefit, current savings and 401(k) contribution amounts. Being able to view the pension benefit projection and their 401(k) plan savings in one place makes it easier for participants to plan and save for retirement.

PLANSPONSOR: Please explain the ongoing governance efforts of those involved with the plan meant to ensure its compliance and effective operation.

Chicago Pipefitters: The Board of Trustees of the Pipefitters’ Individual Account and 401(k) Plan, Local 597, the plan’s investment adviser Strategic Capital, the Local 597 Benefits Office and Empower will continue to monitor and measure the progress toward our goals while always keeping members’ best interests in mind to assist them with fulfilling their retirement objectives.

PLANSPONSOR: What are you most proud of as it relates to your retirement plan offering?

Chicago Pipefitters: We’re very proud to be able to offer multiple avenues for our members to save for retirement in ways that work for them through their career. Besides using the defined benefit, defined contribution and emergency savings benefits, members may also choose to contribute elective deferrals either pre-tax or through our Roth offering. While the emergency savings account is a negotiated benefit paid by employers, members are taking advantage of moving their own savings into the high-yield account offered through Empower.

PLANSPONSOR: What does winning Plan Sponsor of the Year mean to you and your employer?

Chicago Pipefitters: Our team of union officers, business leaders, advisers and the administrative manager continually look for new opportunities in benefit offerings that our members will appreciate. We take pride in the work we do, and it is such an honor to be recognized by PLANSPONSOR for the benefit package we’ve developed for our members.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.