596
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
The majority repudiates this understanding of § 302(c)(5)'s operation, reflected also in NLRB v. Amax Coal Co., 453 U. S. 322, 331 (1981), and Mine Workers Health and Retirement Funds v. Robinson, 455 U. S. 562, 570-572 (1982), as "pure dictum." Ante, at 591. But the reasoning that led us to our conclusion in Arroyo is not so easily dismissed. As we explained in that case, § 302(c)(5) was enacted not merely to exempt specified conduct from the prohibitions of §§ 302(a) and (b), but also to ensure that union trust funds, once established, would continue to benefit the designated employees. 359 U. S., at 424-427.
"Congress believed that if welfare funds were established which did not define with specificity the benefits payable thereunder, a substantial danger existed that such funds might be employed to perpetuate control of union officers, for political purposes, or even for personal gain. See 92 Cong. Rec. 4892-4894, 4899, 5181, 5345- 5346; S. Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess., at 52; 93 Cong. Rec. 4678, 4746-4747. To remove these dangers, specific standards were established to assure that welfare funds would be established only for purposes which Congress considered proper and expended only for the purposes for which they were established. See Cox, Some Aspects of the Labor Management Relations Act, [61 Harv. L. Rev. 274, 290 (1947)]. Continuing compliance with these standards in the administration of welfare funds was made explicitly enforceable in federal district courts by civil proceedings under § 302(e). The legislative history is devoid of any suggestion that defalcating trustees were to be held accountable under federal law, except by way of the injunctive remedy
and receipt of trust funds do not violate §§ 302(a) and (b) if the funds are later diverted, not that the later diversion does not violate § 302(c)(5).
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