Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation P13-r; 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

W-YislCI w.pbgc.gov 

MAY 1 2 2005 

Re: Bethlehem Steel Corporation Pension Plan, Case # 196603 

Dear 

We are responding to your appeal of PBGC's November 18,2004 determination that you are 

not entitled to a benefit under the Bethlehem Plan. For the reasons discussed below, we are denying 

your appeal. 

PBGC's Determination and Your A~veal 

PBGC's letter said that the Bethlehem Plan required at least 10 years of continuous service for 

a participant to qualify for a vested pension benefit. PBGC explained that: (1) you had 8 years, 

5 months and 9 days of continuous service when your Bethlehem Steel service was broken July 3, 

1973, and (2) yo&subsequent reinstatement ~ebkary 9, 1976, and break in service ~e~tember-30, 

1976, resulted in 7 months and 21 days of continuous service. PBGC determined, therefore, that you 

are not entitled to a benefit under the Bethlehem Plan. 

Your December 10, 2004 appeal said that you qualify for a vested pension because your 

service began in January of 1965 and terminated in February of 1976 due to a layoff. You submitted 

a number of documents to support your appeal. One of these is a letter from the Assistant Secretary 

of the Employee Benefits Administration Committee, dated July 7, 1994, which describes in detail 

your service history based on your service record card (see Enclosure 1). For convenience, the table 

below summarizes key dates from that July 7, 1994 letter: 

January 26, 1965 

2 Laid off July 3, 1971 

11 3 1 Service broken I July 3, 1973 11 

1 4 Reinstated I Februarv 9,1976 1 

7 1 Service broken; failed to answer recall I September 30,1976 

5 

6 

In addition, with your permission, we obtained your Social Security earnings history for the years 

1965 through 1976 (see Enclosure 2). The Social Security data is consistent with the work history 

Bethlehem provided for you. 

Laid off 

Recalled to 620 Dept; failed to answer recall 

February 13,1976 

September 10, 1976 
You did not dispute that you were laid off on July 3, 1971 and became actively employed 

again on February 9,1976. You contended, rather, that your "inactive time" for the period July 3, 

1973 (i.e., two years after your last day worked) to July 3, 1976 was due to Bethlehem's failure to 

honor your seniority and to call you back to work before employees with lesser seniority. You also 

said that Bethlehem did not notify you that your service was broken for the fmt time on July 3,1973 

and you assumed you would be recalled some day. You indicated that your employment history 

before 1973, with its string of layoffs and reinstatements, shows that you responded to every recall. 

As for your second period of employment, you submitted a Call and Receipt Card, dated 

September 17, 1976, which you said was the last notice you received from Bethlehem. That card 

included the notation "please disregard recall notice sent to you on 9-10-76." Thus, you disagree with 

Bethlehem's statements that you failed to answer a September 10, 1976 recall to the #620 (Home) 

Department and that, because of your failure to answer, your service was broken for the second time 

on September 30, 1976. 

Lastly, you asked that PBGC provide you with copies of Bethlehem documents from the 

1970's that you said you have been trying to get from Bethlehem officials since 1994. These include 

a roster of #62O employees at the time of the July 1971 layoffs, a list of employees called back with 

date of recall and seniority date, and copies of Call and Receipt Cards signed by you for the period 

in question. 

Backwound 

Bethlehem filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 1 1 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on 

October 15,2001. On March 12,2003, Bethlehem entered into an agreement that provides for the 

sale of substantially all of the company's assets to a third party, which agreement was approved by 

the bankruptcy court on April 22, 2003. Bethlehem's Pension Plan terminated, effective 

December 18,2002, without ~~cient assets to provide all benefits PBGC guarantees under Title IV 

of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and PBGC subsequently became the 

Plan's trustee. The terms of the Plan, the provisions of ERISA and PBGC's regulations and policies 

determine your entitlement to a guaranteed benefit. 

Paragraph 5.l(b)(4) of the Pension Agreement between Bethlehem Steel and the United 

Steelworkers of America (USWA) in effect after your July 3,1971 layoff provides that continuous 

service is broken at the end of the two-year period following a layoff. The 1976 Pension Agreement 

in effect when your second period of employment ended, requires that a participant have 10 years of 

continuous service to qualify for a vested benefit. 

Discussion 

When PBGC becomes responsible for a terminated pension plan, its auditors obtain pension 

records from the former plan administrator. PBGC relies on these records, prepared at the time by .- - plan and company ofici& familiar with plan terms and practice, to determine the benefits PBGC can 

pay. The records PBGC's auditors obtained when the Bethlehem Plan terminated did not include any 
of the nearly 30-year-old documents you requested in your appeal. The only available Company 

document concerning your Bethlehem employment is the enclosed service record card. 

The applicable Labor Agreement between Bethlehem Steel and the United Steelworkers of 

America governed disputes involving seniority and recall. Your claims that you were not properly 

recalled by Bethlehem between July 3,1971 and February 9,1976, or again in September of 1976, 

were issues to be raised at that time under the Agreement's grievance procedures. These procedures 

contained specific time limits for the filing of a grievance, in part so that the information and 

personnel needed to resolve the dispute would be available and corrective remedies, such as 

reinstatement, could be applied. Under the Agreement, failure to file a timely grievance was deemed 

acceptance of the situation. 

You did not assert, nor is there any evidence available to the Appeals Board, that you filed a 

timely grievance concerning your seniority and recall rights during the 1971 - 1976 period at issue. 

However, you said in your appeal that you received no notification fiom Bethlehem that your pension 

service for your second period of employment ended September 30, 1976, and assumed that service 

continued while you were on layoff. As for your frst period of employment, you said you did not 

become aware of the seniority and recall issues you raised until about 1994. 

Even assuming you had no reason to question these decisions at the time Bethlehem made 

them, the Assistant Secretary ofthe Employee Benefits Administration Committee, in his July 7,1994 

letter, gave you an opportunity to invoke the Plan's Appeals Procedure. Under that Procedure, any 

"dispute between the Company and a participant as to a participant's eligibility for pension or the 

amount of pension is to be resolved by the Company and the Union, or the Company and the Union 

may submit it to arbitration." Again, you did not assert, nor is there any evidence in the record, that 

you filed a timely appeal in 1994 under the Plan's Appeals Procedure. While we are sympathetic to 

your situation, PBGC and the Appeals Board must follow the terms of the Plan, the law and 

applicable regulations. 

Decision 

Because you have not presented any grounds that could change PBGC's November 18,2004 

determination that you are not entitled to a Bethlehem Plan benefit, we must deny your appeal. This - - 

is the Agency's fmk decision on this matter and you may, if you wish, seek court review. 

If you have questions, please call PBGC's Customer Contact Center at 1-800-400-7242. 

Sincerely, 

Linda M. Mii 

Member, Appeals Board 

Enclosures (2)