Compliance May 5, 2006

PBGC Takes Chicago Auto Parts Maker Plan

May 5, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The nation's insurer of private-sector pension plans on Friday announced that it had taken over a plan for 600 former workers at a bankrupt Chicago auto parts manufacturer.
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A news release from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said it had assumed responsibility as of May 1, 2006 for the Jernberg Industries Inc. Pension Plan, which it said was 47% funded, with $10.3 million in assets to cover nearly $22 million in promised benefits.

The agency said in the announcement that it expects to be liable for $10.2 million of the $11.7 million shortfall and that assumption of the plan will have no material effect on its balance sheet, as an estimate of the liability was included in its fiscal 2005 financial statements. The pension plan terminated as of September 7, 2005.

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The PBGC said it stepped in because the pension plan faced abandonment after Jernberg sold substantially all of its assets and no purchaser was willing to assume the plan.

Jernberg Industries Inc. retirees who draw a benefit from the PBGC may be eligible for the federal Health Coverage Tax Credit. Further information may be found  here .

Benefits May 4, 2006

Carnival Cruise Line to Settle Overtime Lawsuit

May 4, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Carnival Cruise Lines will pay $6.25 million to thousands of current and former employees that sued the company for allegedly not paying enough overtime, according to the plaintiffs' lawyer.
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According to the Associated Press, the settlement – if approved by US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke – would force the cruise liner to cough up payouts of between $100 and $150 for the nine plaintiffs leading the suit, and various amounts to as many as 39,500 people who worked on the ship starting November 2001, the newswire reported.

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Carnival has not admitted any fault in the settlement, but will setup the arbitration process to pay the disputes, the attorney representing the plaintiffs said, according to the AP.

Crew members working for the cruise line are often required to work more than 70-hour work weeks, and the workers filing the suit said Carnival failed to pay them for working the additional hours. Many cruise lines are not governed by the wage laws required by the US because they operate offshore under foreign banners, the AP reported.

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