Section 82. Fifteen or more credit unions, each having assets of $50,000 or more, may form the Credit Union Employees Retirement Association, in this section and in sections 83 and 84 called the association, for the purpose of providing retirement benefits services through retirement plans that are qualified under section 401 of the federal Internal Revenue Code to employees of credit unions established under the laws of the commonwealth and which are members of the association and to their customers. Any bank or credit union chartered by the commonwealth, any such bank or credit union which has converted to federal charter and has its main office located in the commonwealth, any bank or credit union chartered by the federal government, by a state of the United States other than the commonwealth or by the District of Columbia and which has its main office or a branch office located in the commonwealth, the Massachusetts Credit Union League, Inc., and its successors, the Massachusetts Credit Union Share Insurance Corporation, and other banking or credit union institutions with their main office or any branch office located in the commonwealth, as may from time to time be provided for in the by-laws of the association, and the respective employees of each of the foregoing, shall be eligible for membership in the association; provided, however, that no bank that was eligible to be a member of the association before January 1, 2004, shall be eligible to become a member of the Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association or the Savings Banks Employees Retirement Association unless and until the Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association and the Savings Banks Employees Retirement Association permits a member to transfer from any or all of the qualified plans provided by said association, assets and liabilities, attributed to the member's employees, to 1 or more qualified plans not provided by said association. For the purpose of this section and sections 83 and 84, a reference to ''credit union'' or ''credit unions'' shall, unless the context otherwise requires, mean and include any or all of the organizations named or referred to in this paragraph, a reference to ''directors of a credit union'' shall, unless the context otherwise requires, mean and include the governing body of each member organization, and reference to ''customer'' shall mean any person or business who has established a contractual relationship for banking business purposes with any credit union located in the commonwealth which is a member of the association.

Eligible employees may contribute a portion of their salaries or wages, to be deducted by credit unions and employers and paid to the association. A credit union may contribute to the funds of the association to the extent determined by its governing body; provided, however, that contributions by a credit union for current services, as defined in its by-laws, on account of any employee shall not exceed 15 per cent of his compensation.

The funds contributed by participating credit unions and their employees shall be held or used by the trustees of the association for the purchase of annuities or payment of pensions to eligible employees upon their retirement from service, for the payments to beneficiaries or representatives of any member employee dying before reaching the age of retirement, and for the payment to any such employee retiring from service before becoming entitled to a pension or annuity. Expenses necessary for the administration of the association shall be paid by participating members on a proportionate basis, as provided in the by-laws of the association. The association shall annually provide to each member a report of assets and liabilities attributable to its participants in any or all qualified plans adopted by a member.

In the event that any employee who has been continuously in the employ of a credit union for 10 years or more becomes incapacitated for further service by reason of physical or mental disability before age 65, the employing credit union may pay him a pension in an amount not to exceed 2 per cent of his average salary for the 3 years preceding the date of retirement for each year, not exceeding 30 years of continuous service with any and all credit unions as defined in the second paragraph of this section. Any pension paid on account of disability may be discontinued at any time by the governing board of the employing credit union, and shall be discontinued when the pensioner substantially recovers his earning capacity or attains age 65 or the date the employee elects to have his pension or annuity commence.

A credit union providing retirement benefits to its employees through a plan offered by a provider of plans other than the association, which shall be a qualified plan under 26 U.S.C. section 401, shall file with the commissioner a copy of the plan, any amendments or revisions thereto, and a copy of the annual statement of the provider relative to the plan.

In any calendar year, the association or an employer, by vote of its governing board, may directly supplement the retirement benefits being paid to retired employees or their beneficiaries on account of service; provided, however, that no supplement of a retirement benefit shall exceed the retirement benefit multiplied by the increase in the cost of living since the retirement began. The increase in the cost of living is the percentage by which the national monthly consumer price index for all urban consumers issued by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States Department of Labor for the last November before the year in which payment is made is greater than the beginning index figure. The beginning index figure is the average of such monthly consumer price index figures for the year in which a retirement benefit was first paid to or with respect to a former employee. No credit union may become obligated to pay in future years any supplement authorized by this paragraph.