Teamsters Western Region & Local 177 | eligibility-strike-alert

ALERT

The Fund Office has received multiple inquiries about plan coverage for individual employees in the event of a strike in support of a position taken in the collective bargaining process.  The Fund Office has also become aware that UPS employees may be receiving unreliable or incorrect information on this subject from sources other than the Fund.   To be clear:

• Eligibility for Teamsters Western Region and Local 177 Plan benefits is based on employer contributions to the Plan.  If those contributions end, eligibility for benefits ends at the conclusion of the benefit week for which the contributions are made.
• Employees who lose coverage because of a reduction in work hours (and federal law treats striking as a reduction in work hours) may be eligible to make COBRA self-payments to extend coverage.  Those self-payments would be at rates fixed by the Trustees, which are based on the historical cost to provide benefits.

Take note that only the Trustees of the Teamsters Western Region and New Jersey Health Care Fund or their authorized representatives are authorized to communicate with participants about Plan benefits, and that any other sources of information on plan subjects should be considered unreliable.

For reliable information about benefit eligibility, please review the Summary Plan Description provided to you by the Fund, together with any Material Modification Summaries subsequent to the publication of the Summary Plan Description.  Participants may also contact the administrative office of the Fund at (855) 215-2039 for information about their specific circumstances.