# Plumbers Welfare Fund Plumbers Welfare Fund is a Pension Fund based in Chicago, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Chicago, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 1340 West Washington Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60607, United States - **Founded:** 1950 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** ualocal130funds.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Plumbers Welfare Fund was established in 1950 by Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA, a straight-line plumbing local that now represents more than 6,000 active and retired members in the Chicago area. The fund is a Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan, meaning it receives hourly contributions from numerous signatory plumbing contractors rather than a single corporate sponsor. The Welfare Fund sits alongside the Plumbers’ Pension Fund and the Retirement Savings Fund, all administered from the same West Washington Boulevard office under Fund Administrator Joseph Ohm. The fund provides health and welfare benefits — medical, dental, vision, hearing, prescription drug and health reimbursement arrangement coverage — to participants and their dependents. It does not deploy capital as a traditional institutional investor. The associated Pension Fund and Retirement Savings Fund invest across common or collective trusts, and the broader Local 130 enterprise holds real estate directly, including the Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium at the headquarters, a Union Wellness & Vision Center in Lemont, Illinois, and a mixed-use property on Harrison Street in Chicago. The fund’s geographic footprint is concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area, tied to the local jurisdiction of UA Local 130. The fund office is overseen by Co-Chairman James F. Coyne, who also serves as Business Manager of Plumbers Local 130, and day-to-day operations run through Fund Administrator Joseph Ohm. The Local operates a second health facility in southwest suburban Lemont. Recent publicly available activity is limited to ongoing administration of the comprehensive benefits package. The fund participates in industry associations including the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry and the Plumbing Council of Chicagoland. Philanthropic engagement flows through Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago. The Welfare Fund is structurally distinct from a family office or endowment because it is a joint labor-management trust. It cannot shift its mandate — its sole purpose, codified in plan documents and collective bargaining agreements, is to deliver defined health benefits to a closed universe of union plumbers and their families. Any surplus assets remain plan assets, not distributable profits. ## Sectors - Infrastructure - Real Estate ## Offices - 15900 W. 127th Street, Lemont, IL 60439 ## People - James F. Coyne — Co-Chairman ## Questions ### Who runs the investment decisions for the Plumbers Welfare Fund? The Plumbers Welfare Fund is a health and welfare benefit plan, not an investment vehicle. Investment decisions for the associated retirement assets are made through the Plumbers' Pension Fund and Retirement Savings Fund, which invest via common or collective trusts overseen by the Board of Trustees. Co-Chairman James F. Coyne and Fund Administrator Joseph Ohm manage the administrative operations of the funds. ### How is the Plumbers Welfare Fund related to the Plumbers' Pension Fund? Both are multi-employer Taft-Hartley funds sponsored by Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA and administered from the same office at 1340 West Washington Boulevard. The Welfare Fund provides health benefits, while the Pension Fund is a defined benefit plan and the Retirement Savings Fund is a defined contribution annuity plan. They share leadership and administrative infrastructure but are legally separate trusts. ### Does the Plumbers Welfare Fund deploy capital into private markets? No. The Welfare Fund is a health and welfare benefits trust. Its assets are used solely to pay medical, dental, vision, hearing, prescription drug and HRA claims for participants and their dependents. The investment portfolios sit inside the Plumbers' Pension Fund and the Retirement Savings Fund, which invest in collective trusts. ### What real estate assets does the fund or its related entities own? The Local 130 Funds maintain several directly owned properties. The headquarters at 1340 West Washington Boulevard in Chicago houses the Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium. A Union Wellness & Vision Center operates at 15900 W. 127th Street in Lemont, Illinois. A mixed-use property is held at 4822 W. Harrison Street in Chicago. ### Who are the sponsoring organizations behind the Plumbers Welfare Fund? The fund is sponsored by Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA, one of the largest straight-line plumbing locals in the United Association, which represents over 350,000 building tradesmen across the United States and Canada. Local 130 itself has more than 6,000 members. The fund also collaborates through the Plumbing Council of Chicagoland. ### What is the relationship between the fund and James F. Coyne? James F. Coyne is the Business Manager of Plumbers Local 130 and serves as Co-Chairman of the Plumbers Welfare Fund. In this dual role, he represents the union's interests on the Board of Trustees, which governs the fund alongside employer trustees appointed by the contributing contractors. ### How are contributions made to the Plumbers Welfare Fund? Contributions flow from hundreds of signatory plumbing contractors in the Chicago area under collective bargaining agreements. Employers contribute a negotiated hourly amount per covered employee. Those contributions are pooled in the trust and used exclusively to fund participant benefits and reasonable administrative expenses. ## Related profiles - [Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 118 Pension Plan](https://altss.com/profile/plumbers-steamfitters-local-118-pension-plan) - [PluMedia](https://altss.com/profile/plumedia-gmbh) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/plumbers-welfare-fund Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology