(a) Officers, agents, shop stewards or other representatives. While
the definition of the collective term ``Officer, agent, shop steward, or
other representative'' in section 3(q) of the Act is expressly
applicable only ``when used with respect to a labor organization,'' the
use of this term in connection with trusts in which a labor organization
is interested makes it clear that, in that connection, it refers to
personnel of such trusts in positions similar to those enumerated in the
definition. Thus, the term covers trustees and key administrative
personnel of trusts, such as the administrator of a trust, heads of
departments or major units, and persons in similar positions. It covers
such personnel, including trustees, regardless of whether they are
representatives of or selected by labor organizations, or
representatives of or selected by employers,\6\ and such personnel must
be bonded if they handle funds or other property of the trust within the
meaning of section 502(a).
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\6\ See the contrast between section 308 of S. 1555 as passed by the
Senate (``All officers, agents, representatives, and employees of any
labor organization engaged in an industry affecting commerce who handle
funds of such organization or of a trust in which such organization is
interested shall be bonded * * *'') and section 502 of the Act as
finally enacted. The change between the two versions originated in the
House Committee on Education and Labor. Prior to the reporting of the
bill (H.R. 8342) by that Committee, a joint subcommittee of that
Committee held extensive hearings, during the course of which witnesses
including President Meany of the AFL-CIO criticized the bonding
provision of the Senate bill on the ground that it required only union
personnel of joint employer-union trusts to be bonded. (See Record of
Hearings before a Joint Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and
Labor, House of Representatives, 86th Congress, 1st Session, on H.R.
3540, H.R. 3302, H.R. 4473 and H.R. 4474, pp. 1493-94, 1979.
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(b) Independent institutions not included. The analogy to the
definition of the term ``officer, agent, shop steward, or other
representative,'' when used with respect to a labor organization, shows
that banks and other qualified financial institutions in which trust
funds are deposited are not to be considered as ``agents'' or
``representatives'' of trusts within the meaning of section 502 and thus
are not subject to the bonding requirement, even though they may also
have administrative or management responsibilities with respect to such
trusts. Similarly, the bonding requirement does not apply to brokers or
other independent contractors who have contracted with trusts for the
performance of functions which are normally not carried out by officials
or employees of such trusts such as the buying of securities, the
performance of other investment functions, or the transportation of
funds by armored truck.
(c) Employees of a trust in which a labor organization is
interested. As in the case of labor organizations, all individuals
employed by a trust in which a labor organization is interested are
``employees,'' regardless of whether, technically, they are employed by
the trust, by the trustees, by the trust administrator, or by trust
officials in similar positions.
[28 FR 14394, Dec. 27, 1963, as amended at 50 FR 31311, Aug. 1, 1985]
