Getting To Know

As an Apprentice with United Association Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Pipefitters Local 725, you are entitled to receive fringe benefits paid on your behalf by the contributing employers of the Mechanical Contractors Association of South Florida

PENSION

With every hour you work, your employer is contributing money toward your accrued Pension benefit for when you retire early at age 55 or normal at age 65.

This accrued benefit will be paid to you monthly when you retire for the remainder of your life. If you are married, your spouse will be entitled to a benefit if you were to pre-decease your spouse.

To be vested in your Pension, you need to obtain 5 vesting credits. It takes 1,000 hours in a calendar year to receive 1 vesting credit. A minimum of 400 hours in a calendar year is needed to obtain .25 vesting credit.

Pension FAQs

HEALTHCARE

Health coverage begins when an apprentice enters 2nd year of training. And coverage continues as long as you work at least 100 hours in a month. Hours worked in January gives you coverage in March.

If you work more than 100 hours in a month, the hours over 100 are placed into an Hour Bank, which can be used to continue your coverage if you don't work 100 hours. The maximum hours allowed in the Hours Bank is 1,000 hours.

Your Medical Coverage is through Florida Blue and is a PPO network, which means you can see any doctor without having a referral from a primary care provider.

Your Prescription Coverage is through Sav-Rx. This is not a discount card but a full prescription insurance card.

Your eligible dependents (lawful spouse, biological children, legally adopted children, and step-children) can be added to your coverage by completing an enrollment/vital form with required documents.

In addition to medical & prescription, you also have dental coverage through Florida Blue Dental. The Fund offers a self-funded Life Benefit and Accidental Death & Dismemberment benefit for actively working members.

And effective October 1st, 2023 a new Member Assistance Program.

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Pharmacy Plan >>>>>

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION

In addition to the Pension benefit, Apprentices in 4th & 5th year, you are earning an additional retirement benefit.

The Defined Contribution Fund provides you with an secondary retirement benefit. For every hour you work, your employer is remitting contributions to your DC account which gets pooled with the other members in the DC Fund and is invested by the Board prudently to provide investment interest whenever possible.

To be vested in your DC Fund, you need 2 vesting credits. It takes 1,000 hours in a calendar year to obtain 1 vesting credit. A minimum of 500 hours in a calendar year is needed to obtain .50 vesting credits.

You can grow your secondary retirement benefit by electing to defer contributions from your gross take home pay into an elective account that again gets pooled with the other accounts and invested by the Board with the assistance of an Investment Consultant.

Defined Contribution FAQs

Welcome

To your Participant Portal, where as an Apprentice 2nd year & up, you can view your personal benefit information, securely and easily 24 hours a day. From your computer or phone.

You can view your pension history, your defined contribution account balance, your health coverage & hour bank information as well as work hours and dependent information.

Understanding

There are 2 parts to your UA 725 Employee Package

The 1st part is your taxable wage rate, this is the minimum amount negotiated by the Union for your wage per hour you work and is paid directly to you by your employer via payroll.

The 2nd part is the fringe benefits, this is the amount negotiated by the Union for your health coverage, your pension benefit, your defined contribution account and local education/training. This amount is paid by your employer on your behalf directly to the benefit funds.

These 2 parts (wages & fringes) make up your UA 725 Employee Package, which is negotiated by the Union and paid solely by your employer.

Now out of your taxable wages, your employer deducts 2% of your wages for Union Working Dues and $0.30 per hour worked for UA Political Education Committee, Market Recovery and Organizing as noted on your signed referral. These are non-fringe assessments that you directly pay out of your wages.

Did you know....

Working Non-Union is not all its cracked up to be

A non-union contractor may offer you a 401(k) benefit but that benefit is typically an employer match, which means you have to put money from your gross wages into the benefit and the non-union contractor may match your amount up to a certain level. Your retirement balance is determined by how it is invested and if the economy is having issues, your retirement balance may be less than you want or expected. And oh by the way, the benefit is usually a lump sum benefit, not monthly.

By working for a UA 725 Contractor, you are able to vest in a Defined Pension Benefit, which will pay you a monthly benefit when you retire. This accrued benefit amount will not be lowered because of investments, this amount will be consistent for the remainder of your life when you retire.

In addition to the pension benefit, you are also able to vest in a Defined Contribution Retirement Benefit, which will provide you with an additional retirement benefit and you can make that benefit grow even more, by electing to defer contributions from your gross take home pay.

A non-union contractor may offer you health insurance but you will be paying a portion of the monthly premium cost and if you have a family, you will be paying a lot more out of your pocket to provide coverage for your family. That is in addition to co-payments and deductibles.

Working for a UA 725 contractor, you pay nothing out of pocket to receive your monthly union health coverage which includes coverage for your family at no additional cost. Your UA 725 contractor pays the negotiated amount per hour paid toward your health coverage. You only have your co-payments and deductibles, no monthly premium cost.

Also...

Negotiated Wages

UA Local 725 and the Mechanical Contractors Association of South Florida negotiate your wage and benefit packages as an Apprentice.

When you complete a year of training and advance to the next level in your education, you earn an increase in your wages and possibly benefits.

This increase occurs in the next payroll period following when ARPEC notifies your employer of your advancement.