SECTION IV. ELIGIBILITY

The Plan covers all participating employees for whom contributions are made, or required to be made, to the Trust Fund. A new employee will become a Participant in the Plan upon payment of a contribution by an Employer on his behalf in accordance with a Collective Bargaining Agreement. A Participant who was age 63 or over on the original effective date of the Plan, or any deferred effective date of the Plan, as the case may be, must have worked a minimum of 600 hours for an Employer during the 24 months preceding his retirement date to be eligible for retirement benefits; a Participant who was under age 63 on the original effective date of the Plan, or any deferred effective date, as the case may be, must have worked not less than 1,200 hours for an Employer prior to his retirement date but since the effective date, or deferred effective date, of the Plan to be eligible for benefits.