Fringe Benefits Bond - Plumbers Local Union No. 68 in Texas

Brief Summary

Signing with Plumbers Local 68 means contributing to the health, retirement and vacation plans its members depend on. This bond tells the trustees those contributions are covered if your company ever falls behind, and it does that for a premium instead of a pile of cash held as security.

The Plumbers Local Union No. 68 Fringe Benefits bond guarantees that a contractor signed to a Local 68 collective bargaining agreement or Participation Agreement pays the fringe benefit contributions those agreements require. The contributions fund health and welfare, retirement and vacation plans run by a Board of Trustees at the Local 68 benefit office in Houston. The trustees and the union, not the Texas Department of Insurance, set the amount and accept the bond.

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How to Apply for a Fringe Benefits Bond:

• Call the Local 68 benefit office for the current bond amount and exact obligee name.
• Ask whether the trustees require a specific bond form.
• Have your company name exactly as it appears on the collective bargaining agreement or Participation Agreement.
• Complete the bond application with owner information for the credit review.
• Pay the premium and receive the signed bond.
• Deliver the original to the benefit office or wherever the trustees direct, and keep a copy with your agreement.

Detailed Information About the Texas Fringe Benefits Bond:

Who this bond protects

This is not a state license bond, and the Texas Department of Insurance has no role in it. The bond protects the Plumbers Local Union No. 68 benefit plans. According to the Local 68 benefit office, those plans are Taft-Hartley trusts regulated by ERISA and self administered by a Board of Trustees. They cover employees of contractors signatory to collective bargaining agreements and Participation Agreements with UA Plumbers Local 68, and they build their assets through the contribution provisions of those agreements.

What the contributions pay for

The Plumbers Local Union No. 68 Group Protection Plan and Benefit Office handles health and welfare coverage, a vacation plan, and retirement plans that include the Plumbers Local Union No. 68 Pension Fund Plan of Defined Contributions, where each participant's account is built from employer contributions plus investment yield. The benefit office also lists the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Plan among its retirement plans. When a contractor misses a remittance, it is members' coverage and retirement accounts that come up short. The bond gives the trustees a source of payment up to its face amount.

The territory is bigger than Houston

Local 68 serves Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Bryan, College Station, Victoria, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley, along with the 62 surrounding counties the local lists.

What a missed contribution costs

Under 29 U.S.C. 1145, an employer obligated to contribute to a multiemployer plan under a collectively bargained agreement must pay on the plan's terms. If the trustees win a collection suit, 29 U.S.C. 1132(g)(2) requires the court to award the unpaid amount, interest, the greater of additional interest or the plan's liquidated damages (up to 20 percent unless federal or state law permits more), and attorney's fees and costs. The bond pays up to its limit. The contractor stays liable for the full judgment and repays the surety for any claim.

Getting the right amount and form

Call the Local 68 benefit office at (713) 869-2592 or 1-800-833-2980 for the current bond amount, the exact obligee name, and whether the trustees require their own form. Confirm those details before the bond is issued.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Texas Fringe Benefits Bond:

• Obligee worded as the Local 68 benefit plan trustees or the union, as the benefit office specifies.
• Bond amount set by the trustees or the agreement, not by a Texas statute.
• Covers fringe benefit contributions owed under Local 68 collective bargaining agreements and Participation Agreements.
• Principal name matching the signatory employer.
• Owner indemnity agreement with the surety.

Texas Fringe Benefits Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Texas Fringe Benefits Bond: