The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce several changes to the SIS Pension Plan of benefits. These changes will be effective January 1, 2005 .

It is well accepted that when investing, one way to reduce risk with investments is to diversify – you should not “put all of your eggs in one basket”. The SIS Pension Fund invests in different asset classes: stocks, bonds, stable value investments and real estate. Investing in different asset classes is one level of diversification used by the SIS Pension Fund. Within the stock investments, professional investment managers buy the stocks of many companies: stocks of some of the largest U.S. companies, some mid-sized companies and some small companies. This further diversifies investments. This increased diversification tends to reduce the overall risk of the stock investments of the SIS Pension Fund. “Risk” is a word used to refer to the up and down price changes of an investment.

The Trustees have decided to further diversify the stock investment of the SIS Pension Fund for those invested in the three more aggressive asset allocations: Maximum Growth, Wealth Building and Growth and Income investment options. Beginning in 2005, the stocks of non-US. companies will be added to the allocations of these three investment options.

The Trustees have long faced a dilemma regarding the stocks of non-US. companies. They have believed that investing a portion of the assets of the SIS Pension Fund in stocks of International companies would tend to reduce the risk of the overall portfolio while, at the same time, tend to increase the potential investment return of the overall portfolio. The dilemma was that they did not wish to compromise American companies or the jobs of U.S. workers through investment in overseas competitors. The Trustees believe they have found an ideal way to invest in the stocks of International companies while not compromising American companies or the jobs of U.S. workers.

Alliance Bernstein has been hired to invest in non-US. companies whose primary source of income is from within that country. These companies will be in industries like utilities, broadcasting, telecommunications, banking and insurance. They will not invest in industries that compete head-to-head with U.S. industries like textiles, automobiles, forest products and electronics. Additionally, Alliance Bernstein will not invest in countries on the AFL-CIO Country Watch List. Alliance Bernstein has been investing in this manner for other pension funds for years and the results have been excellent.

The revised asset allocations for each of the investment options will be as follows:

Age Based Investing is an investment program under which how your SIS Pension Fund account is invested changes as you get older so that your exposure to the stock market is reduced as you age. For example, the Maximum Growth Investment Option is well suited for individuals under age 30 while the Wealth Building Investment Option is well suited for investors between the ages of 30 and 40. The Maximum Growth Investment Option has 70% exposure to the stock market while the Wealth Building Investment Option has 50% exposure to the stock market. If you begin to participate in Age Based Investing at age 25, your entire individual account (including new contributions) will be invested in the Maximum Growth portfolio. When you reach age 30, your individual account (including new contributions) will automatically be invested in the Wealth Building portfolio. Once you have elected Age Based Investing, you do not need to make any further investment choices. Your investment fund and therefore, your exposure to the stock market, will automatically be changed to give you an asset allocation that is appropriate to your age. The Investment Options and the ages at which your individual account will be automatically invested in those Funds is as follows:

If you do not select a Life Stage Investment Option, your Individual Account will be invested following the Age Based Investing program.

Once you participate in Age Based Investing, whether you elected to do so or participated by default, you are free to make different investment choices provided under the Plan. However, once you elect a different investment option for either your new contributions or your existing account balance, you will no longer participate in Age Based Investing program unless you later elect to do so.

The Age Based Investing program is not ideal for everyone. You need to take into consideration your own risk tolerance and retirement needs when deciding which Investment Option is best for you.

You will receive additional information on Age Based Investing in the mail from Comerica Bank, the record keeper for the SIS Pension Fund.

The Trustees have added a special separation rule for small accounts (under $2,500). Effective January 1, 2005, you are eligible to receive a separation benefit of your small account if you are not working for an employer maintaining the Plan and you have not worked in employment covered by the Plan for the most recent six consecutive months. For accounts $2,500 and over, participants can qualify for a separation benefit 12 months after they last work in the piping industry. Retirement and Disability benefits continue to have no waiting period.

Generally, participants should choose a Life Stage investment asset allocation that fits their age group and their personal risk tolerance. Previously, participants could give instructions to transfer their current account balance among the investment options and/or change the investment selection for future contributions at any time but only once in each calendar quarter. Effective January 1, 2005 , the limit of one change per quarter has been removed. You will be able to change your investment instructions at any time. Nevertheless, it is recommended that changes to asset allocation be made rarely -- once every five or ten years, to correspond with your life situation or a change in your risk tolerance.