In re the Claim of Sokolowski

—Mugglin, J.

Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed June 9, 2000, which, inter alia, reduced claimant’s weekly unemployment insurance benefit rate.

Claimant worked for a steel company from January 1978 until mid-August 1999 when he was laid off as the result of a plant shutdown. The relevant union contract provided that, in the event of a plant shutdown, an employee could qualify for a pension when his or her age and years of service totaled 65 and that the employee could continue to accrue service credit for up to two years after being laid off as a result of…