Union funds seek audit of APG International Inc.

PHILADELPHIA – The International Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 21 alleges a New Jersey company has failed to submit to an audit per the terms of their bargaining agreement.
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 21 Health and Welfare Fund, et al. filed a complaint on Nov. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against APG International Inc. alleging violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant is party to a collective bargaining agreement with them. They allege that the defendant has refused to submit to an audit since July as required by the agreement.

The plaintiffs seek accounting of all amounts due to them, amounts due and owing after an audit, interest, court costs, liquidated damages, and any further relief the court grants. They are represented by Martin W. Milz of Spear, Wilderman P.C. in Philadelphia.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-05382-JP

Source: Penn Record

EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – SEPTEMBER 2017

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $35.64 per hour worked in September 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $24.33 per hour worked and accounted for 68.3 percent of these costs, while benefit costs averaged $11.31 and accounted for the remaining 31.7 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $33.55 per hour worked in September 2017. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $48.78 per hour worked in September 2017.

Highlights of employer compensation costs per hour worked for state and local government workers, September 2017:

• State and local government employers spent an average of $48.78 per hour worked for employee total compensation.

• Employer costs for wages and salaries averaged $30.54 per hour and accounted for 62.6 percent of compensation costs. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for benefits averaged $18.24 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 37.4 percent. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs by occupational group ranged from $33.64 per hour worked for sales and office workers to $58.76 per hour worked for management, professional, and related workers.

This major occupational group includes teachers, whose compensation costs averaged $64.77 per hour worked. Service workers averaged $35.59. (See table 4.)

• Employers spent $5.56 per hour worked, or 11.4 percent of total compensation for retirement and savings benefits. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for retirement and savings for management, professional, and related workers averaged $6.68 per hour worked. Employer costs for retirement and savings for sales and office workers averaged $3.44, and service workers averaged $4.48. (See table 4.)

• Included in retirement and savings benefits were employer costs for defined benefit plans, which averaged $5.16 per hour (10.6 percent of total compensation), and defined contribution plans, which averaged 39 cents (0.8 percent). (See chart 2 and table 3.)

• Insurance benefit costs averaged $5.80 per hour, or 11.9 percent of total compensation.

The largest component of insurance costs was health insurance, which averaged $5.65, or 11.6 percent of total compensation. (See chart 2 and table 3.)

• Employer costs for paid leave include vacation, holiday, sick leave, and personal leave.

The average cost for paid leave was $3.68 per hour worked for state and local government employees. (See table 3.)

• Employer costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance (both state and federal), and workers’ compensation, averaged $2.71 per hour worked. (See table 3.)

Benefit costs in private industry.

Private industry employer costs for paid leave averaged $2.32 per hour worked or 6.9 percent of total compensation, supplemental pay averaged $1.19 or 3.6 percent, insurance benefits averaged $2.68 or 8.0 percent, retirement and savings costs averaged $1.39 or 4.1 percent, and legally required benefits averaged $2.62 per hour worked or 7.8 percent. (See table A and table 5.)

Table A.  Relative importance of employer costs for employee compensation, September 2017

Compensation                         Civilian       Private      State and local

  component                             workers(1)     industry       government

____________________________________________________________________________

Wages and salaries                  68.3%          69.6%            62.6%

Benefits                                   31.7           30.4             37.4

   Paid leave                            7.0            6.9              7.5

   Supplemental pay                 3.1            3.6              1.0

   Insurance                             8.7            8.0             11.9

     Health                                8.3            7.5             11.6

   Retirement and savings         5.5            4.1             11.4

     Defined benefit                   3.5            1.9             10.6

     Defined contribution           2.0            2.2              0.8

   Legally required                   7.4            7.8              5.6

_____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and

     workers in the public sector, except the federal government.

• Technical Note
• Table 1. Civilian workers, by major occupational and industry group
• Table 2. Civilian workers, by occupational and industry group
• Table 3. State and local government, by major occupational and industry group
• Table 4. State and local government, by occupational and industry group
• Table 5. Private industry, by major occupational group and bargaining unit status
• Table 6. Private industry, by major industry group
• Table 7. Private industry, by census region and division
• Table 8. Private industry, by establishment employment size
• Table 9. Private industry, goods-producing and service-providing industries, by occupational group
• Table 10. Private industry, by industry group
• Table 11. Private industry, by occupational group and full-time and part-time status
• Table 12. Private industry, by industry group and full-time and part-time status
• Table 13. Private industry, by major industry group and establishment employment size and bargaining unit status
• Table 14. Private industry, health care and social assistance workers, by industry and occupational group
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The PDF version of the news release

Supplemental Files Table of Contents

Table of Contents 

Source: BLS

 

Y&F Campos Construction alleged to owe contributions to union funds

PHILADELPHIA – A Gaithersburg, Maryland employer is alleged to have failed to pay contributions to several labor union funds.

Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity Carpenters Pension and Annuity Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity, et al. filed a complaint on Nov. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Salvadora Yamileth Marroquin Reyes, individually and doing business as Y&F Campos Construction, and Francisco Campos citing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Operating Engineers union says Criniti Construction failed to pay monthly dues

PHILADELPHIA — A union is suing Criniti Construction Inc. and Joseph Criniti, citing alleged breach of contract.

The International Union of Operating Engineers of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware and related employee funds filed a complaint on June 20 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that the employer failed to remit its employees' contributions.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that its organization was financially damaged due to unpaid contributions. The plaintiffs hold Criniti Construction and Joseph Criniti responsible because the defendants allegedly breached their bargaining agreement with the plaintiff by not paying their monthly contributions.

The plaintiffs seek $9,776.39 in unpaid principal amounts, interest at a 10 percent rate, $977.64 in liquidated damages, $571.06 in dues, court costs and any further relief this court grants. They are represented by Regina C. Hertzig and Jeremy E. Meyer of Cleary, Josem & Trigiani LLP in Philadelphia.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-02770-JCJ

Source: Penn Record

Northeast Fence & Iron Works accused of not making contributions to labor funds

PHILADELPHIA — Labor funds are suing Northeast Fence & Iron Works Inc. and Raymond Longstreath, citing alleged breach of contract.

Trustees and Fiduciaries of the Iron Workers District Council (Philadelphia and Vicinity) Benefit and Pension Plans, Iron Workers District Council (Philadelphia and Vicinity) Pension Plan, and Iron Workers District Council (Philadelphia and vicinity) Benefit Plan filed a complaint on Nov. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the defendants, alleging that they failed to make timely contributions to the plaintiff.

DuPont to freeze old pension plan and move to 401(k) matching

DuPont will freeze its defined benefit pension plan, beginning in 2018 and  eliminate post-retirement health benefits for those under 50.

In a letter to employees, the company cited the 2018 date as possibly coinciding with the spin-off of the combination of Dow and DuPont into three separate publicly traded companies. The merger between DuPont and Dow is now expected to take place in the first quarter of next year.

Philadelphia Union Benefit Funds Can Seek Contributions from Independent Contractor that Signed “Me-Too” Agreement 17 Years Earlier

A contractor signatory to an old “me-too” agreement with an “evergreen” clause could be responsible for benefit and other fund contributions required by a later multiemployer collective bargaining agreement (a “CBA”) even though the contractor was not a member of the multiemployer group and did not grant continuous bargaining rights to the group, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (DE, NJ, PA) has held. 

Construction Crane & Tractor accused of breaching Philadelphia labor contract

PHILADELPHIA — Labor funds are suing Construction Crane & Tractor Inc., alleging that the employer has breached a contract.

International Union of Operating Engineers of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Benefit Pension Fund, International Union of Operating Engineers of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Health and Welfare Fund and International Union of Operating Engineers of Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Annuity Fund filed a complaint on Oct. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Construction Crane & Tractor Inc., alleging that the employer failed to pay fringe benefit contributions to the funds.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that they suffered damages from unpaid and late paid contributions. The plaintiffs holds Construction Crane & Tractor Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly breached its bargaining agreement with the plaintiffs by not paying monthly contributions on behalf of its employees.

The plaintiffs seek $9,895.46 in interest, $48,000 in penalties and fines, court costs and any further relief this court grants. They are represented by Jeremy E. Meyer of Cleary, Josem & Trigiani, LLP in Philadelphia.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-05606-RK

Source: Penn Record