Pension Fund

Important Notice About Your Pension Plan Benefits

Effective for contributions made to the Plan on your behalf on and after April 1, 2022, the benefit accrual rate will be increasing. This is a benefit to active participants because you will earn a greater pension benefit for the hours you work in Covered Employment.

Currently, the monthly benefit you earn at Normal Retirement Age is equal to 1% of Contributions paid on behalf of Covered Employment for all Credited Service on September 1, 2009. Beginning with work on and after April 1, 2022, you will earn 2% of Contributions paid on your behalf.

The Board of Trustees takes pride in the ability to provide a quality retirement benefit to the working men and women affiliated with IUOE Local 132. Your continued interest in the Plan is appreciated and questions are welcomed. Feel free to contact the Fund Office with any questions.

You can read the full notice by clicking here.

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If your employer is reporting pension contributions on your behalf, you can start planning towards that day when you can retire.  You’ll want to review your quarterly statements from the Trust Office to verify your employer is reporting the correct hours.  You should also keep your quarterly statements as they can serve as a record of your work history.  Each statement prepared shows your total hours and total contributions since participation.  When the time comes that you are no longer working, if you have not yet retired, you will continue to receive a quarterly statement every three months, up to two years.  If you still have not retired from the Fund, you will be written and advised whether or not you are vested in the Fund.  If you are vested for a future benefit, you will be provided a deferred vested letter showing the amount of your normal retirement benefit.

Commonly Asked Questions

How do I become vested for a pension benefit? 

By working at least 1,000 hours for five (5) plan years without a break-in-service, you will be vested for a normal retirement benefit at age sixty-five (65).

How do I qualify for an early retirement pension?

By working at least 16,000 hours, you can retire as early as age sixty (60).  When you reach 24,000 hours, you can retire as early as age fifty-five (55).  Keep in mind, for each year early, a reduction of six percent (6%) applies, for example, five (5) years early, a reduction of thirty percent (30%) applies.

Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning

U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration has provided a publication to better understand retirement planning.  The link above takes you directly to an online version, including interactive worksheets that you complete as you read each chapter.  You can also download the fully illustrated 62 page Adobe PDF narrative.

Go to my Social Security and create your personal account, where you can receive personalized estimates of future benefits based on your real earnings, see your latest Statement, and review your earnings history.  It even makes it easy to request a replacement Social Security Card or check the status of an application.

Don’t Forget This When Working Out-of-State

When you are in the jurisdiction of another local, make sure you complete a Transfer Authorization Request form to have your hours and contributions transferred back to Local 132.  Waiting until the time of retirement may delay the process and trying to locate hours, years later, may be difficult.

For a Local 132 participant performing Pipeline work in another state (outside of West Virginia), the International agreement requires your employer to report your Health & Welfare contributions directly to the IUOE Pipeline Health & Welfare Fund.  They also require your Pension contributions to be reported directly to Central Pension Fund.  Both of these Fund’s require you to complete their own Transfer Authorization forms.  For your convenience, we have both of these forms included on the Forms and Documents page under the “Union Forms” section.

If you are working for a Building Trades or Heavy Highway employer in another state, you will need to complete the Transfer Authorization Request form.  You can mail the completed form to the Union in whose jurisdiction you are working, or to the Local 132 Trust Office and we forward your form on to the appropriate Union office on your behalf.