Union education and training fund as welfare plan

P/OPINION 76-104

                                                3(1)


                   September 15, 1976


Dear          :

Thank you for your letter dated September 2, 1975,
requesting a ruling whether the Education and Training
Trust Fund (Fund) of the (named) Union, Local # (Union)
is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning
of section 3(l) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (ERISA). According to your letter, the plan
is funded by collectively bargained employer contribu-
tions, and "offers a wide range of technical, educational
and cultural courses designed to enrich the interest of
the Plan's participating members and extend skills allied
with his trade or industry". We regret we could not reply
sooner.

Section 3(1) of the ERISA defines an employee welfare
benefit plan as "any plan, fund, or program which was
heretofore or is hereafter established or maintained by an
employer or by an employee organization, or by both, to
the extent that such plan, fund, or program was estab-
lished or is maintained for the purpose of providing for
its participants or their beneficiaries, through the
purchase of insurance or otherwise, . . . apprenticeship
or other training programs . . .". The Fund was
established by the Union and provides training benefits to
its members. It is not necessary that the Fund provide
apprenticeship training or that the training necessarily
be in connection with the employee's job. The Fund is an
employee welfare plan within the meaning of section 3(1)
of the ERISA and subject to all applicable provisions of
Title I.

Sincerely,