U.A. Local No. 393 Defined Benefit Pension Plan

The U.A. Local No. 393 Defined Benefit Pension Plan is governed under a Taft-Hartley trust structure, meaning the Board of Trustees must have equal representation from the labor union and contributing employers. Eric Mussynski serves as Chairman and Alex Hall serves as Co-Chairman representing the Northern California Mechanical Contractors Association. This joint governance model means all investment policy and asset allocation decisions require consensus between labor and management fiduciaries, with plan administration managed by third-party administrator BeneSys.

The U.A. Local No. 393 maintains two distinct retirement vehicles negotiated through its collective bargaining agreements. The Defined Benefit Pension Plan, historically called the 'Part A Plan,' provides a traditional fixed monthly retirement income not subject to market fluctuations. The Defined Contribution Plan, or 'Part B Plan,' is a separate trust designed to supplement the defined-benefit payout with market-dependent savings. The two trusts are legally separate entities, each with its own Board of Trustees and investment strategy.

The plan's allocation to a New York Life group annuity contract is consistent with a de-risking or partial liability-transfer strategy. By converting a portion of its assets into an insured annuity, the fund contracts with a highly rated insurer to assume the longevity and investment risk for a block of retiree liabilities. This provides the Trustees with greater cash-flow certainty and reduces the exposure of the funded status to equity market volatility, a conservative posture typical among well-advanced multi-employer plans seeking to protect accrued benefits.

The signatory employers who contribute to the U.A. Local No. 393 Defined Benefit Pension Plan are represented by the Northern California Mechanical Contractors Association. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, these mechanical contractors remit a negotiated hourly contribution to the pension trust on behalf of each union tradesperson they employ. The employer association's Executive Vice President, Alex Hall, serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees, ensuring the contributing employers have direct fiduciary oversight of the plan's health.

The plan's benefits are not tied to the performance of technology stocks beyond their representation in the diversified common stock portfolio; the guaranteed monthly payout is determined by a formula based on years of service and salary history. Because it is a defined-benefit trust, the funding risk sits with the contributing employers, not the individual participants, meaning even in a regional economic downturn the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation backs qualified benefits up to statutory limits. The presence of a fixed-income portfolio, corporate debt holdings, and the New York Life annuity contract further diversifies the fund away from pure equity exposure.