GCIU Employer Retirement Plan

April 2021

TO:

ALL PARTICIPANTS, BENEFICIARIES, LOCAL UNIONS,

CONTRIBUTING EMPLOYERS, PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION AND SECRETARY OF LABOR

Notice of Critical and Declining Status for 2021

GCIU-Employer Retirement Plan

(EIN 91-6024903 Plan #001)

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) amended ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to,

among

other things, impose additional funding rules for multiemployer plans with the goal of improving the

financial condition of these plans. Beginning in 2008, the Retirement Plan's actuary was required to

annually certify to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Retirement Plan's Board of Trustees whether or

not the Retirement Plan is in endangered or critical status. The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of

2014 (MPRA) added a new status category called "critical and declining." As you are already aware,

for the 2009 through 2014 Plan Years, the actuary certified that the Retirement Plan was in critical

status. Since 2015, the actuary has certified that the Retirement Plan was in critical and declining status.

Critical and Declining Status - 2021 Plan Year

The purpose of this notice is to inform you that on March 26, 2021, the actuary certified to the U.S.

Department of the Treasury and the Board of Trustees that the Retirement Plan remains in critical and

declining status for the 2021 Plan Year. Federal law requires that you receive this additional notice. The

Retirement Plan is considered to be in critical and declining status because it meets the criteria for

critical status and is projected to become insolvent (run out of money to pay benefits) within 20 years.

As of January 1, 2021, the Plan is projected to be insolvent in 2031. This is when the Retirement Plan

is currently projected to no longer have sufficient assets to pay retiree benefits and would apply for

financial assistance from the PBGC at that time.

Rehabilitation Plan

As you are also aware, federal law requires pension plans in critical status to adopt a rehabilitation plan

aimed at restoring the financial health of the plan. A rehabilitation plan was implemented by the Trustees

effective November 1, 2009 and was amended in May 2012 by the Trustees to reduce the additional

contribution schedule to 25% for 2013 going forward.

For this Fund, the rehabilitation plan consists of a single schedule that sets forth the benefit and

contribution requirements under the Retirement Plan. The schedule required reductions in adjustable

benefits. These reductions included changes in early retirement benefits, disability benefits, and

retirement payment options. The schedule also requires additional employer contributions.

Due to the unique convergence of circumstances, the Trustees determined that they were unable to

adopt a rehabilitation plan that will enable the Retirement Plan to emerge from critical status and

avoid insolvency using reasonable assumptions. Therefore, the Trustees adopted a rehabilitation

plan that reflects reasonable measures to forestall insolvency. In creating such a rehabilitation

plan under these circumstances, the Trustees employed all reasonable measures to forestall

insolvency that were available.

GCIU-Employer Retirement Fund

April 2021

Notice of Critical and Declining Status

Page 2

Rehabilitation plans must be reviewed each year and revised if necessary. The Trustees will be

reviewing the rehabilitation plan again in May 2021.

Adjustable Benefits

The Retirement Plan offers the following adjustable benefits, which may still be reduced or

eliminated as part of any revised rehabilitation plan. Although these benefits were not eliminated,

much of the additional value of these benefits was reduced under the rehabilitation plan adopted in

2009:

Disability benefits (if not yet in pay status),

Early retirement benefits,

Benefit payment options other than a qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA),

Other similar benefits, rights, or features under the plan including the pre-retirement death

benefit.

Further, under certain circumstances, the plan sponsor of a plan in critical and declining status may

apply for approval to amend the plan to reduce current and future payment obligations to participants

and beneficiaries. However, the Plan is not expected to be able to do this under the MPRA law.

You will receive a separate notice if the Trustees decide to adjust benefits again, if any, as part of a

revised rehabilitation plan.

Employer Surcharge and Additional Contributions

Prior to the adoption of the rehabilitation plan by the employer and union, the law requires that all

contributing employers pay to the Retirement Plan a surcharge to help correct the Retirement

Plan's financial situation. The amount of the surcharge is equal to a percentage of the amount an

employer is otherwise required to contribute to the Retirement Plan under the applicable collective

bargaining agreement. With some exceptions, a 5% surcharge was applicable in the initial critical

year (2009) and a 10% surcharge is applicable for each succeeding Plan Year thereafter in which the

Retirement Plan is in critical or critical and declining status.

The surcharge contribution ends for an employer once the collective bargaining parties adopt the

rehabilitation plan for that employer, or when the rehabilitation plan is automatically adopted as

provided under the Pension Protection Act. At that time, the employer's contribution increases are

defined by the rehabilitation plan schedule. All employers have now adopted the Rehabilitation Plan,

so the surcharge(s) no longer applies.

Where to Get More Information

For more information about this Notice, you may contact the Retirement Plan's Administrative

Office at Northwest Administrators, Inc., 2323 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102-3305. You have

a right to receive a copy of the rehabilitation plan from the Plan.

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