Code of Federal Regulations Title 29. Labor § 29.453.6 Officers, agents, shop stewards or other representatives or employees of a trust in which a labor organization is interested

(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).

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.

(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.