Article 9. NPF COLA Benefit

Section 9.01 Effective Date

  The provisions of this Article 9 shall generally be effective January 1, 1991, except to the extent that a different effective date is provided below. 

Section 9.02 NPF COLA Benefit

The NPF COLA Benefit is an annual supplement to the monthly pension benefits provided by the Plan.  The NPF COLA Benefit shall be payable on any Allocation Date to Participants and Beneficiaries who meet the eligibility rules of Section 9.03 of Appendix A. 

Section 9.03 Eligibility Rules for the NPF COLA Benefit

  A Participant shall be eligible to receive the NPF COLA Benefit only if the Participant meets the requirements specified in Section 9.03 of the Appendix.

Section 9.04 Calculation of NPF COLA Benefit

(a)        Subject to subsection (b), (c) and (d) below, Section 9.05 and the limitations set forth in Section 8.11 (relating to the limitations imposed by Section 415 of the Code), the amount of the NPF COLA Benefit payable to an eligible Participant or Beneficiary shall be equal to the product of:

(1)               the amount of pension benefits, exclusive of benefits payable under this Article, received by the eligible Participant or Beneficiary for the twelve (12) consecutive month period ending on the Allocation Date, multiplied by;

(2)               two percent (2%), multiplied by;

(3)               the number of whole years, measured from the Allocation Date, for which the Participant or Beneficiary has received a pension benefit from the Plan; provided that:

(A)              years in excess of 15 shall not be taken into account, and

(B)              for purposes of determining the amount payable to a Beneficiary, the years for which benefits were paid to the Participant from whom the Beneficiary’s benefits derive shall be taken into account.

(b)               Effective for any Allocation Date before October 31, 1996, in the event that the applicable Contribution Rates of the Contributing Employers upon which the Participant’s benefits are based have not been increased by at least the Required Pension Fund Increase, or that only a portion of the Required COLA Fund Contribution Rate is applicable to such Contributing Employers, as of such Allocation Date, then the amount of the NPF COLA Benefit payable to an eligible Participant or Beneficiary on such Allocation Date shall be equal to the product of:

(1)               the amount determined under subsection (a) above, multiplied by;

(2)               a fraction, the numerator of which is the sum of the portion of the Required Pension Fund Increase that has been made and the portion of the Required COLA Fund Contribution Rate that is applicable, and the denominator of which is the sum of the Required Pension Fund Increase and the Required COLA Fund Contribution Rate.

(c)               Effective for any Allocation Date on or after October 31, 1996, in the event that the applicable Contribution Rates of the Contributing Employers upon which the Participant’s benefits are based have not been increased by at least the Required Pension Fund Increase as of such Allocation Date, then the amount of the NPF COLA Benefit payable to an eligible Participant or Beneficiary on such Allocation Date shall be equal to the product of:

(1)               the amount determined under subsection (a) above, multiplied by;

(2)               a fraction, the numerator of which is the portion of the Required Pension Fund Increase that has been made, and the denominator of which is the Required Pension Fund Increase.

(d)               For purposes of this Section 9.04, the amount of pension benefits received by the Participant or Beneficiary for the twelve consecutive month period ending on the Allocation Date (i.e., the amount of annual pension benefits) shall be based on the amount he is receiving in accordance with the form of benefit payment elected by the Participant under the Plan, except that in the case of a Participant who has elected the Level Income Option, the amount of annual pension benefits shall be calculated by determining the annual benefit to which he was entitled before he elected said Level Income Option.

(e)               The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this Section 9.04, or whenever such defined terms are used elsewhere in this Article 9:

(1)               The term “Required Pension Fund Increase” shall mean the difference between (i) the amount of the Employer’s “December 31, 1990 Contribution Rate Increment” times thirteen cents ($0.13) and (ii) the Employer’s Contribution Rate as of December 31, 1990.

(2)               The term “December 31, 1990 Contribution Rate Increment” shall mean the Employer’s Contribution Rate as of December 31, 1990, divided by twelve cents ($0.12).

(3)               The term “Required COLA Fund Contribution Rate” shall mean the amount required to be contributed to the Sheet Metal Workers’ National COLA Fund by the Contributing Employers upon which the benefits payable to the Participant under the Sheet Metal Workers’ National COLA Fund are predicated.

(f)                 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 9.04, effective August 1, 2001, the amount of any NPF COLA Benefit, determined under this Article 9, payable to an eligible Participant who retires on a 55/30 Pension, or payable to an eligible Beneficiary with respect to a Participant who retired on a 55/30 Pension, shall be determined as if the amount of the Participant’s benefit was determined under the Special Early Retirement Pension, as described in Section 5.05 of the Plan, rather than under the provisions of Section 5.06.

Section 9.05 NPF COLA Benefit After June 30, 1995

  Effective July 1, 1995, notwithstanding any provision in the Plan to the contrary, no NPF COLA Benefit shall be payable with respect to any pension benefits accrued after June 30, 1995.  In calculating the amount of the NPF COLA Benefit payable under Section 9.04, only the amount of pension benefits (exclusive of benefits payable under this Article) which accrued prior to July 1, 1995 (i.e., the amount of such pension benefits that is determined on the basis of Pension Credit credited on or before June 30, 1995) shall be taken into account.  For purposes of determining the NPF COLA Benefit under this Article 9, each Participant’s pension benefit (exclusive of benefits payable under this Article) under the Plan shall be frozen as of June 30, 1995, and the amount of the NPF COLA Benefit payable to an eligible Participant or Beneficiary on any Allocation Date commencing after July 1, 1995 shall be calculated only on the basis of such frozen pension benefit (i.e., the portion of the pension benefit, other than benefits payable in accordance with this Article 9, which accrued prior to July 1, 1995).  Pension benefits accrued after June 30, 1995 shall not be taken into account for purposes of calculating an eligible Participant’s or Beneficiary’s NPF COLA Benefit under Section 9.04 above. 

Section 9.06 Ad Hoc COLA

(a)               Generally

Effective for Plan Years beginning on or after January 1, 1995, from time to time, the Trustees may, but need not, provide an Ad Hoc COLA payment for a Plan Year to designated Participants and Beneficiaries by amending this Section 9.06 to provide an Ad Hoc COLA for such Plan Year; provided, that any such Ad Hoc COLA shall be payable only with respect to Participants who separated from Covered Employment before January 1, 1991 (as determined under Article 5).  Whether this Section 9.06 will be amended to provide an Ad Hoc COLA payment for any particular Plan Year, and the amount and terms of any such Ad Hoc COLA payment, shall be determined by the Trustees in their sole discretion. 

Any Ad Hoc COLA paid for a Plan Year shall be a gratuitous supplement to a benefit already accrued, and shall not be treated as part of the pension benefit received by the Participant or Beneficiary for such Plan Year (except to the extent required by Section 415 of the Code).  Given the nature of an Ad Hoc COLA payment, no Participant or Beneficiary should have any expectation of receiving an Ad Hoc COLA payment during any particular Plan Year.  Further, if this Section 9.06 is amended in substantially consecutive Plan Years to provide an Ad Hoc COLA payment for such Plan Years, it should not give rise to an expectation by an Participant or Beneficiary that the Plan will be amended in any subsequent Plan Year to provide an Ad Hoc COLA payment.  Any Ad Hoc COLA paid pursuant to this Section 9.06 is not part of a Participant’s or Beneficiary’s annual pension benefit commencing at Normal Retirement Age, nor is it a part of any pension or retirement benefit to which a Participant or Beneficiary may be entitled to under the Plan.  Therefore, any Ad Hoc COLA payment made under this Section 9.06 shall not be treated as a part of a Participant’s or Beneficiary’s Accrued Benefit, as an early retirement benefit and/or a retirement-type subsidy (as described in Code Section 411(d)(6)(B)(i)) or an optional form of benefit (as described in Code Section 411(d)(6)(B)(ii)).

(b)               Sections 9.06(b), et. seq. of Appendix A describe Ad Hoc COLA payments for Plan Year 1995 and thereafter.