Note 13 - Multiemployer Union Agreement and Pension Plan

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Notes to Financial Statements

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

13.

Multiemployer Union Agreement and Pension Plan

Certain of the Company’s employees are covered by union-sponsored, collectively bargained, multiemployer defined benefit pension and profit-sharing plans, and health insurance, legal and training plans. Contributions to the plans are determined in accordance with the provisions of the negotiated labor contract. The Local

32BJ

Service Employees International Union (“Local

32BJ”

) contract is in effect through

December 31, 2019.

Contributions to the Local

32BJ

are

not

segregated or otherwise restricted to provide benefits only to the Company’s employees. The risks of participating in a multiemployer pension plan differ from those of a single-employer pension plan in the following aspects: (a) assets contributed to a multiemployer pension plan by

one

employer

may

be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers; (b) if a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligation of the plan

may

be borne by the remaining participating employers; and (c) if the Company chooses to stop participating in the multiemployer plan, it

may

be required to pay the plan an amount based on the unfunded status of the plan, which is referred to as the withdrawal liability. The Company has

no

intention of withdrawing from the plan.

The information for the union’s multiemployer pension plan is as follows:

Legal name	Building Service 32BJ Pension Fund
Employer identification number	13-1879376
Plan number	001
Type of plan	Defined benefit pension plan
Plan year-end date	June 30
Certified Zone Status for 2018, 2017 and 2016*	Red
Funding improvement plan/rehabilitation plan*	Implemented
Surcharges paid to plan	None

Pension contribution made for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively	$337,	$355	and	$374
Minimum weekly required pension contribution per employee for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively (in dollars)	$109.11,	$101.91	and	$102.75

____________

* Certified pension zone status (as defined by the Pension Protection Act) represents the level at which the pension plan is funded. Plans in the red zone are less than 65% funded; plans in the yellow zone are less than 80% funded; and plans in the green zone are at least 80% funded. The rehabilitation plan may involve a surcharge on employers or a reduction or elimination of certain employee adjustable benefits.

The information provided above is from the pension plan’s most current annual report, which for Local

32BJ

is for the year ended

June 30, 2018.

The Pension Protection Act Zone Status, the most recent zone status available, was provided to the Company by the plan and is certified by the plan’s actuary. The Company’s contributions to the pension plan are less than

5%

of all the employers’ contributions to the plan.