1.

Name of Plan.

This Plan is known as the Operating Engineers Pension Trust.  It is a collectively bargained, jointly Trusteed, Labor-management Trust.

2.

Plan Administrator And Sponsor.

The Board of Trustees is the Plan Administrator.  This means that the Board of Trustees is responsible for seeing that information regarding the Plan is reported to government agencies and disclosed to Plan participants and beneficiaries in accordance with the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

3.

Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees consists of an equal number of employer and union representatives, selected by the employers and union respectively, in accordance with the Trust Agreement which relates to the Plan.

If you wish to contact the Board of Trustees, you may use the address and phone number below:

The Trustees have designated the administrative organization named below to perform the routine functions of the Plan:

Operating Engineers Funds, Inc.
100 E. Corson Street
Pasadena, California 91103
(626) 356-1000

4.

Names, titles and Addresses of Any Trustee of Trustees.

As of November 1, 2005, the Trustees of the Pension Plan are:

EMPLOYER TRUSTEES

UNION TRUSTEES

5.

Identification Numbers.

The number assigned to the Plan by the Internal Revenue Service is 95-6032478.  This Plan Number is 001.

6.

Agent for service of Legal Process.

The name and address of the Agent designated for the service of legal process is:

Michael P. Graydon
Operating Engineers Funds, Inc.
100 E. Corson Street
Pasadena, California 91103

Legal process may also be served on the Plan Trustee.

7.

Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Contributions to this Plan are made on behalf of each employee in accordance with Collective Bargaining Agreements between I.U.O.E., Local #12 and participating employers.

The Fund Office will provide you, upon written request, a copy of any of the Collective Bargaining Agreements.  The Collective Bargaining Agreements are also available for examination at the office of the Plan Administrator.

8.

Source of Contributions.

The Benefits described in this section are provided through employer contributions to this Plan.  The amount of employer contributions to this Plan is determined by the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreements requiring contributions to this Plan at a fixed rate per hour worked.  The Fund Office will provide you, upon written request, information as to whether a particular employer is contributing to this Plan on behalf of participants working under the Collective Bargaining Agreements.

9.

Eligibility Requirements.

In addition to this website and the Pension Plan section of the Plan's Benefit Book, you may find the Plan's requirements regarding eligibility for participation and benefits, in Articles, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII of the Plan rules and regulations. 

10.

Description of provisions for non-forfeitable pension benefits.

A Participant achieves vested status in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 5 of the Pension Plan rules and regulations. (See Vesting).

11.

Description of circumstances which may result in disqualification, ineligibility, denial or loss of benefits.

See provisions of Article II Section 4, Article III, and Article V, of the Pension Plan rules and regulations.

12.

Source of financing of the Plan and organization through which benefits are provided.

Payments are made to the Trust by individual employers under the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreements.  No outside organization is involved in providing Trust benefits.  Benefits are provided from the Trust itself.

13.

Fiscal Plan Year.

The fiscal records of the Plan are kept separately for each Fiscal Year.  The Fiscal Plan Year Begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

14.

Review Procedure.

If your claim is denied in whole or in part, you will receive a written explanation giving detailed reasons for the denial, specific reference to the Plan provisions on which the denial is based, a description of any additional material or information necessary for you to perfect the claim and an explanation of why such information or material is necessary, as well as an explanation of our appeals procedure.

15.

Statement of ERISA Rights.

As a participant in the Operating Engineers Pension Trust, you are entitled to certain rights and protections under the Employee Retirement  Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).  ERISA provides that all Plan participants shall be entitled to:

• Examine, without charge, at the Plan Administrator's office and at other specified locations, such as work sites and union halls, all Plan documents, including insurance contracts, Collective Bargaining Agreements and copies of all documents filed by the Plan with the U.S. Department of Labor, such as detailed annual reports and Plan descriptions.

• Obtain copies of all Plan documents and other Plan information upon written request to the Plan Administrator. The Administrator may make a reasonable charge for the copies.

• Receive a summary of the Plan's annual financial report.   The Plan Administrator is required by law to furnish each participant with a copy of this summary annual report.

• Obtain, once a year, a statement of the total pension benefits accrued and the nonforfeitable (vested) pension benefits (if any) or the earliest date on which benefits will become nonforfeitable (vested). The Plan may require a written request for this statement, but it must provide the statement free of charge. 

In addition to creating rights for Plan participants, ERISA imposes duties upon the people who are responsible for the operation of the employee benefit plan. The people who operate your Plan, called "fiduciaries" of the Plan, have a duty to do so prudently and in the interest of you and other Plan participants and beneficiaries.  

No one, including your employer, your union or any other person, may fire you or otherwise discriminate against you in any way to prevent you from obtaining a pension benefit or exercising your rights under ERISA.  If your claim for a pension benefit is denied in whole or in part, you must receive a written explanation of the reason for the denial.  You have the right to have the Plan review and reconsider your claim.  Under ERISA, there are steps you can take to enforce the above rights.  For instance, if you request materials from the Plan and do not receive them within 30 days, you may file suit in a federal court.  In such a case, the court may require the Plan Administrator to provide the materials and pay you up to $100 a day until you receive the materials, unless the materials were not sent because of reasons beyond the control of the Administrator.  If you have a claim for benefits which is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you may file suit in a state or federal court.  If it should happen that Plan fiduciaries misuse the Plan's money, or if you are discriminated against for asserting your rights, you may seek assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor, or you may file suit in a state or federal court.  The court will decide who should pay court costs and legal fees.  If you are successful the court may order the person you have sued to pay these costs and fees.  If you lose, the court may order you to pay these costs and fees, for example, if it finds your claim is frivolous.  If you have any questions about your Plan, you should contact the Plan Administrator.  If you have any questions about this statement or about your rights under ERISA,  you should contact the nearest office of the Office of Pension- Welfare Benefit Programs, U.S. Department of Labor. 

16.

Plan Termination.

The collective bargaining parties intend that this Plan continue indefinitely.  However, the collective bargaining parties reserve the right, subject to the provisions of the Trust Agreement, to terminate the Plan.  To do so, they must notify and get approval from a governmental agency called the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).  If the Plan is terminated, you will be notified as soon as possible.  You will be told the amount, if any, to which you will become entitled, with an explanation of any election that you may have to make.  Your benefits are protected as follows:  The assets in the Fund, after provisions for administrative expenses, will be used to provide for all benefits accrued to the date of termination, whether those benefits are vested or not.  No assets are returned to the employers until provision is made for the accrued benefits of participants.  If there are not enough assets to provide for all accrued benefits, benefits will be provided in the following order of priority:

• First, benefits to employees who began receiving benefits three years before the Plan terminated, or could have if they had elected to do so;

• Second, other benefits at the level guaranteed by the PBGC;

• Third, all other vested benefits;

• Fourth, all accrued benefits which are not vested.

The benefits under this Plan are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) if the Plan terminates. Generally, the PBGC guarantees most vested normal age retirement benefits, early retirement benefits, and certain disability and survivor's pensions.  However, the PBGC does not guarantee all types of benefits under covered plans, and the amount of benefit protection is subject to certain limitations.  The PBGC guarantees vested benefits at the level in effect on the date of Plan termination. However, if a Plan has been in effect less than five years before Plan termination, or if benefits have been increased within five years before Plan termination, the whole amount of the Plan's vested benefits or the benefit increase may not be guaranteed. In addition, there is a ceiling on the amount of monthly benefit that PBGC guarantees, which is adjusted periodically.  For more information on the PBGC insurance protection and its limitations, ask your Plan Administrator or the PBGC. Inquiries to the PBGC should be addressed to:

Processing and Technical Assistance Branch

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

1200 K Street, N.W., Suite 930

Washington, D.C. 20005  

The Coverage and Inquiries Branch of the PBGC may also be reached by calling (202) 326-4000 or (800) 400-7242, or clicking here.