As we enter a new construction season, some of you may find yourselves asked to work out of Local 169’s jurisdiction. If you are not sure, Local 169’s jurisdiction does not cover any area outside of Nevada and we do not cover southern Nevada basically anything south of Tonopah.
If your employer asks or sends you to work in another Local Union’s jurisdiction, here are some things you need to know and do, to make sure your benefits follow you back to your home local:
–It’s your responsibility to make sure your benefits are transferred back to your home local.
-It is not a right of membership or guarantee that your benefits will be transferred back to your home local.
-The local where the work is being performed must be notified and you must request the local where the work is being performed to transfer your benefits back to your home local
-You must actually fill out the proper paperwork, in writing, to request the benefits to be transferred. This is your responsibility, not the employers. Contact the local where the work is being performed.
-Then you have to make sure that your request is actually approved and then processed through the trust funds by the local where the work is being performed.
-If the ball is dropped at any point, by other parties involved, the benefits will not be transferred, and if the request is not properly filed within 90 days the other local may not go all the way back to when you started, even if they lost the paperwork.
-Get the name of the agent from the local where the work is being performed and write it down. Keep a copy of the paperwork you fill out, if possible.
*Bottom line: Ask questions first, don’t rely on the word of the company or others, and follow through by checking the status of your request within the first two weeks to make sure you are in the system for the transfer of funds at the work Local’s Trust Office.*
The Union puts this notice out in our newsletter on a regular basis in an effort to help you with the process. Far too often we get a call only after there is a problem and the problem is usually out of Local 169’s control and in the hands of the local where the work was performed.
Generally, most but not all problems can be fixed, but understanding and doing your part timely and correctly helps everyone, especially you.