Note 9 - Other Retirement Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 27, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Other Retirement Plans [Text Block]

9    OTHER RETIREMENT PLANS

Substantially all of our employees are eligible to participate in a qualified defined contribution retirement plan. We also have a non-qualified plan for employees whose incomes exceed qualified plan limits.

Retirement and compensation plan costs, including costs related to stock based compensation and the defined contribution retirement plan, charged to continuing operations are $4,141,000 in 2020, $3,849,000 in 2019 and $4,430,000 in 2018.

Multiemployer Pension Plans

We contributed to five multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective-bargaining agreements ("CBAs"). The risks of participating in these multiemployer plans are different from our company-sponsored plans in the following aspects:

• We do not manage the plan investments or any other aspect of plan administration;

• Assets contributed to the multiemployer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers;

• If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers; and

• If we choose to stop participating in one or more multiemployer plans, we may be required to fund over time an amount based on the unfunded status of the plan at the time of withdrawal, referred to as "withdrawal liability".

Information related to these plans is outlined in the table below:

(Thousands of Dollars)	Zone Status September 30		Funding Improvement Plan/Rehabilitation Plan Status	Contributions
								Expiration Dates of
Pension Plan	2020	2019	Status	2020	2019	2018	Surcharge Imposed	CBAs
GCIU- Employer Retirement Fund	Red	Red	Implemented	87	98	107	No	3/24/2022
District No. 9, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Pension Trust	Green	Green	N/A	31	30	29	N/A	2/28/2021
CWA/ITU negotiated Pension Plan	Red	N/A	N/A	456	—	—	No	6/10/2022
								1/13/2022
IAM National Pension Fund	Green	N/A	N/A	86	—	—	N/A	4/18/2021
								12/19/2020
Operating Engineers Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers	Green	N/A	N/A	52	—	—	N/A	12/16/2020

The Company has effectuated withdrawals from several multiemployer plans. We record estimates of withdrawal liabilities as of the time the contracts excluding multiemployer plan benefits are ratified. As of September 27, 2020 and September 29, 2019, we had $11,473,000 and $7,359,000 withdrawal liabilities recorded in Other Liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The liabilities reflect the estimated net present value of payments to the fund, payable over 20-years.

Several multiemployer plans have CBA's that expire in the next twelve months. It is reasonably possible that if the Company is unable to renegotiate these agreements employees could go on strike which could disrupt the normal operations of the Company.

Subsequent Events (unaudited)

In October 2020, we effectuated a withdrawal from a multiemployer plan at our Buffalo subsidiary. We estimate a withdrawal liability of $12,300,000 that will be recorded in the 13-weeks ended December 27, 2020.