# Iron Workers' Locals No. 15 & 424 Pension Plan Iron Workers' Locals No. 15 & 424 Pension Plan is a Pension Fund based in Cromwell, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Cromwell, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Cromwell, CT, United States - **Founded:** 1956 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** ctironworkers.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.ctironworkers.org/ ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The plan was established in July 1956 as a defined-benefit arrangement for career ironworkers affiliated with Hartford-based Local 15 and New Haven-based Local 424. Robert Hertel serves as Executive Director of the broader Benefit Funds office, while union trustee Joseph Sorensen and management trustee Michael O'Sullivan — representing employer participant Berlin Steel — share fiduciary oversight through the board of trustees. This bipartite governance model, required under ERISA and the Labor Management Relations Act, gives neither labor nor contributing contractors unilateral control over investment decisions. Asset management follows the conservative-liability-matching template common among mature Taft-Hartley defined-benefit plans. Known allocations include a US commercial real estate investment fund and self-directed accounts within the plan's separate annuity fund, both reflecting a preference for hard assets and participant-optionality structures. The geographic investment footprint concentrates on domestic holdings, consistent with the local-union identity of the plan and the regulatory framework that governs multi-employer pension investments. Contribution rates are set through collective bargaining agreements between the two locals and signatory contractors, establishing a predictable inflow stream divorced from market fundraising cycles. Team size is not publicly disclosed, though multi-employer benefit-fund offices of this scale typically run lean administrative staffs supplemented by external actuarial, legal, and investment-consulting relationships. The plan operates from Cromwell, Connecticut, and participates in the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust — the national labor-management partnership for the ironworking trade — where Management Trustee O'Sullivan serves as Contractor Co-Chair. This affiliation keeps plan leadership embedded in the industry's workforce-development and safety conversations that ultimately determine the health of the contributing employer base. Structurally, the plan differs from corporate and public pension funds in its funding mechanism: contributions are negotiated hourly and embedded in project labor agreements, making the plan's financial health tightly coupled to Connecticut construction activity rather than equity-market sentiment or municipal tax receipts. When collectively bargained hours decline, contribution revenue follows — a structural risk that multi-employer trustees manage through conservative actuarial assumptions and benefit tiers that can be adjusted through the same labor-management bargaining process that funds the plan. ## Sectors - Real Estate ## People - Robert Hertel — Executive Director of the Iron Workers' Locals No. 15 and 424 Benefit Funds - Joseph Sorensen — Union Trustee and Plan Administrator - Michael O'Sullivan — Management Trustee representing Berlin Steel ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at the plan? Investment oversight rests with the joint board of trustees, split evenly between union trustees appointed by Ironworkers Locals 15 and 424 and management trustees representing contributing employers like Berlin Steel. The trustees set asset-allocation policy, hire investment consultants and external managers, and monitor portfolio performance. Day-to-day administrative execution sits with Executive Director Robert Hertel and the Cromwell-based Benefit Funds office. ### How does the plan's multi-employer structure affect its funding? Employer contributions are negotiated through collective bargaining agreements and paid per hour worked by covered ironworkers. This means contribution revenue rises and falls with Connecticut construction activity rather than market returns. The plan must manage liquidity carefully to meet benefit obligations during construction downturns, which historically has driven a conservative, liability-matching investment posture. ### Which employers contribute to the plan? Contributing employers include signatory contractors to collective bargaining agreements with Ironworkers Locals 15 and 424. The only publicly identified contributing employer is Berlin Steel, whose principal Michael O'Sullivan serves as a management trustee. The full employer roster is embedded in bargaining agreements and plan filings and is not centrally published by the plan. ### How does IMPACT participation affect plan governance? The Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust is a national labor-management partnership that coordinates workforce development, safety training, and contractor promotion across the ironworking trade. Management Trustee O'Sullivan's role as Contractor Co-Chair means plan leadership is directly engaged in the industry-level conversations that drive demand for union ironwork — and by extension the contribution hours that fund the plan. ### Where does the underlying funding stream come from? Funding derives entirely from employer contributions negotiated into the hourly wage-and-benefit package for union ironworkers in Connecticut. There is no state appropriation, corporate parent, or endowment backing. The plan's financial strength depends on sustained union construction market share and hours worked by active members of Locals 15 and 424. ## Related profiles - [Iron Workers Locals 15 & 424](https://altss.com/profile/iron-workers-locals-15-424) - [Iron Workers Mid-South Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/iron-workers-mid-south-pension-fund) --- Last updated: 2026-07-06T00:34:50.414Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/iron-workers-locals-no-15-424-pension-plan Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology