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Note 13 - Multiemployer Union Agreement and Pension Plan
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
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
94
International Union of Operating Engineers (“Local
94”
) contract is in effect through
December 31, 2022.
The Local
32BJ
Service Employees International Union (“Local
32BJ”
) apartment building contract is in effect through
April 20, 2022.
The Local
32BJ
Service Employees International Union commercial building contract expired on
December 31, 2019;
all terms and conditions remain in effect while the parties negotiate a successor agreement retroactive to the expiration date.
 
Contributions to the unions 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 plans are 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 2019, 2018 and 2017*
 
Red
Funding improvement plan/rehabilitation plan*
 
Implemented
Surcharges paid to plan
 
None
           
Pension contribution made for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively
 
$325,
$337
and
$355
Minimum weekly required pension contribution per employee for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively (in dollars)
 
$114.11,
$109.11
and
$101.91
 
 
Legal name
 
Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers
Employer identification number
 
36-6052390 
Plan number
 
001 
Type of plan
 
Defined benefit pension plan
Plan year-end date
 
January 31
Certified Zone Status for 2019, 2018 and 2017*
 
Green
Funding improvement plan/rehabilitation plan*
 
N/A 
Surcharges paid to plan
 
N/A
 
       
Pension contribution made for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively
 
$39,
$38
and
$37
Minimum weekly required pension contribution per employee for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively (in dollars)
 
$187.43,
$182.55
and
$177.90
 

*
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 respective pension plan’s most current annual report, which for Local
32BJ
is for the year ended
June 30, 2019
and for Local
94
is
January 31, 2019.
The Pension Protection Act Zone Status, the most recent zone status available, was provided to the Company by the respective plans and the Local
32BJ
status is certified by the plan’s actuary. The Company’s contributions to the pension plans are less than
5%
of all the employers’ contributions to the plan.