The UMWA Cash Deferred Savings Plan of 1988 (”CDSP”) requires the Trustees to resolve disputes between participants and their employers as to whether a participant is a “New Inexperience Miner” (“NIM”) eligible to receive Enhanced Premium Contributions (“EPC”) under the Plan.
Article XXB(d)4 of the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement (“NBCWA”) of 2007 states:
A new inexperienced miner entering the bituminous coal mining industry for the first time on or after the Effective Date who does not have a State Miner’s Certificate dated prior to the Effective Date shall receive monthly Enhanced Premium Contributions ($1.00 per hour worked) from the Employer to the Savings Plan… An Employee subject to Enhanced Premium Contributions shall not be entitled to health care following his retirement date, based on service with the Employer, except as a Disabled Employee or a Pensioner receiving a Disability Pension (including a Minimum Disability Retirement Pension).
This NBCWA provision is incorporated in Article I, Section 1.11 and Article III, Section 3.02 of the CDSP. Article I, Section 1.11 states:
Employer Contributions shall mean the monthly Enhanced Premium Contributions ($1.00 per hours worked), required under Article XXB(d)4 of the Wage Agreement, made by an Employer on behalf of the Participant who entered the bituminous coal mining industry for the first time on or after January 1, 2007, who does not have a State Miner’s Certificate dated prior to January 1, 2007, and who is not eligible for retiree benefits.
You may challenge your employer’s determination that you are a NIM under the terms of the NBCWA of 2007 and the CDSP and requesting that the Trustees investigate the facts and resolve the dispute by completing the form below.
