Part 1: About The Annual Benefit Plan

The ITPE Annual Benefit Plan is administered by a joint Board of Trustees consisting of Union representatives and Employer representatives. The Union and the Employers have equal representation on the Board. Communication to the Board should be addressed to Board of Trustees, ITPE Annual Benefit Fund, c/o ERISA Systems, 216 North Avenue East, Cranford, New Jersey 07016. The telephone number is (908) 276-0800. The Plan's web site is WWW.ITPEBENEFITS.ORG. Amendments to the Plan will be posted on the web site and sent to each participant.

The law firm of Freedman & Lorry, P.C., 1601 Market Street, Second Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, counsel for the Plan, has been designated as agent for the service of legal process. Service of legal process may also be made on any member of the Board of Trustees, which administers the Plan.

All contributions to the Plan are made by the Employers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements with the Industrial Technical and Professional Employees Union, AFL-CIO. The collective bargaining agreements generally require contributions to the Plan at fixed rates per hour. The Contract Administrator, upon written request, will advise you, or your beneficiaries, whether a particular Employer contributes to the Plan at a specific location.

Benefits are paid from the Plan assets, which are accumulated under the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements and the Agreement and Declaration of Trust Establishing the ITPE Annual Benefit Fund. These assets are held in a trust fund for the sole purpose of providing benefits to eligible participants and covering reasonable administrative expenses.

The Plan's assets are managed and invested by the Board of Trustees of the ITPE Annual Benefit Fund. The Plan's assets consist of cash and other interest bearing financial instruments. The cash and financial instruments are held in financial institutions designated by the Trustees.

Participants and their beneficiaries with questions or problems about their entitlements have the right to an official response from the Plan. This basic right and others are written into the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, (ERISA) adopted by Congress in 1974, which applies to all benefit Plans. 

Those rights are set forth here.