Trucking Company Must Arbitrate Fund’s Claim to Withdrawal Fees

A trucking company that agreed to use union drivers, and pay into their pension fund for work on a large retail development in New Jersey, must arbitrate whether to pay fees to withdraw from the fund now that the project stalled, the Third Circuit said Tuesday.

J. Supor & Son Trucking & Rigging Co. argued that it shouldn’t have to arbitrate whether it owes the withdrawal fees because it’s not an employer for purposes of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act.

Neither the MPPAA nor Third Circuit precedent defines “employer,” the opinion by Judge Stephanos Bibas said.

The court cited ...