Earl J. Smith v. Industrial Employers and Distributors Association, and Bird and Son of Massachusetts, Inc.

Industrial Employers and Distributors Association (IEDA) and Bird and Son, defendants below, appeal from a summary judgment in favor of Smith, plaintiff below. The district court held pensions to be “perquisites of seniority” under 38 U.S.C. § 2021 (b)(1), formerly 50 U.S.C. App. § 459(b)(B)(i), and permitted Smith, a veteran, to include the time he spent in the Armed Services in computing the amount of his pension. While our analysis differs from that of the district court, we agree with its conclusion and affirm,

I. FACTS.

Smith began working for Pabco Products in March, 1930. He worked without interruption until his induction into the United States Army in December of 1942. In October, 1945, Smith received an honorable discharge and asked Pabco to reemploy him. A strike delayed his reinstatement until March of 1946. Except for three months during two strikes Smith was continuously employed by Pabco — or by Bird, which acquired Pabco in 1968 — until his retirement at the end of 1970, when he became eligible to draw pension benefits.

The pension plan at issue here was established in June, 1956, by a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the International Longshoremen’s and…