GENERAL INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO PLAN
ADMINISTRATION
The Benefits Fund is established pursuant
to the City-Wide collective bargaining agreement between the City of New York
and District Council 37 AFSCME (AFL-CIO). It receives all welfare contributions
under the various collective bargaining agreements which have been entered into
by the City of New York and related Agencies and District Council 37 and its
affiliated locals.
The Benefits Fund uses the money to fund,
in its discretion; the DC 37 Health and Security Plan and the DC 37 Education
Fund, which, in turn, provide you with benefits described in the DC 37
"Full-Time Employee Benefit Booklet" (revised October 1998) and this
web site. Each of the Funds is a legal entity separate and distinct from the
Union. MELS is now a division of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan and it is
not a separate entity.
1. The Administrators who are appointed by the Trustees
manage the day-to-day operations of the Plan. Each administrator of the respective
Plans and the MELS Chief Counsel is also the agent for service of legal process
upon its Plan by any person who may be asserting a legal claim against the
Plans for benefits. The address for each Administrator and the MELS Chief
Counsel is 125 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10007.
2. From time to time you may have questions concerning
your coverage or the present status of a benefit, which you have filed for.
Under those circumstances, you should contact the Inquiry Unit of the
appropriate Plan by writing to them at the Plan address or by telephone. In the
event they cannot answer your questions, they will out you in contact with the
person who can do so.
3. As previously noted for you, these Plans are funded
through monies received on your behalf under various collective bargaining
agreements. Upon written request, the Administrator of the appropriate Plan or
the Chief Counsel of MELS shall make available for your inspection the various
documents (such as the Trust, collective bargaining agreement, etc.), which
would govern the structure of the Plan. These documents may be examined by you
at the Plans' office during the regular business hours of the day (9 a.m. to 5
p.m.) by an appointment made on receipt of your written request. In addition,
the Plan will make copies of any of these documents available for your use upon
payment by you of the reasonable costs of duplicating the ones you may select.
Examples of costs involved would be as follows: The Health and Security Plan
Document $5 (at the Plan office); Municipal Employees legal Services Document
$1 (at the MELS office); Ed Fund Plan Document $1 (at the Plan office).
Printed and
bound Summary of the Plans (DC 37 booklet) no charge.
Xerox or
otherwise reproduced copy of Trust Instrument, Collective Bargaining Agreement,
etc.; 10 cents per page.
4. The DC 37 Summary Booklet is designed to explain the
benefits provided by the Plans. However, the Plans are administered in
accordance with the health and Security Plan Document; the MELS Benefit
Document; and the Education Fund Plan Document ("Document(s)"). This
Summary Plan shall not, in any manner or provision, be inconsistent with or
contradict any aspect of the said Documents. In such event the provisions of
the said Documents shall govern and apply as if part of this Summary. Under no
circumstances shall the Plans be liable for any inconsistencies or
contradictions between this Summary Plan description and the Documents.
5. The Plan currently file reports with the Internal
Revenue Service, the Comptroller's Office, and other governmental agencies on a
fiscal year basis which begins the first of July of each year and ends the
thirtieth day of the following June. The books and records are annually audited
by independent certified public accountants and reports of these audits are
submitted to the Comptroller of the City of New York.
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