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Institutional investors support the Employee Free Choice Act
UNI Global Union applauds the actions of investors to ask US government leaders to support Employee Free Choice. An international coalition of major institutional investors, managing $372 billion across the global economy, sent a letter to Senate and House leaders endorsing the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 560 and H.R. 1409). UNI asks affiliates associated with pensions funds to raise the same claims with their funds and take this message to US government leaders.
The investor endorsement brings a new business voice to the debate over U.S. labor law reform, breaking sharply with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and other corporate trade associations lobbying against the bill.
“As investors, we believe constructive labor relations are essential for improving productivity, efficiency and workplace safety,” said Steven Heim, Senior Vice President and Director of Social Research and Advocacy for Boston Common Asset Management, LLC. “We believe the proposed legislation would help appropriately rebalance labor-management relations and better protect workers if they face unlawful conduct by employers when exercising their workplace rights.”
In their letter, the investors underscored the economic considerations in their endorsement of the legislation, noting that “the decline in unionization in the United States, exacerbated by a variety of anti-union responses from companies and weaker U.S. labor law, has damaged the fragile relationship between management and employees and depressed the prospects for sustained economic recovery.”
"The Employee Free Choice Act is an investment in our shared economic future," said Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel at Domini Social Investments LLC. "The Act will help to stabilize our economy, both in the United States and abroad, by establishing a more balanced relationship between labor and management. Today, American workers are producing more and receiving less. This is an unsustainable trend that creates material risks for employees, investors and the global economy. By more effectively protecting workers' fundamental human rights, the Act would help to reverse these damaging trends."
Says Michael O’Sullivan, President of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors in Melbourne, “The freedom to form a union is enshrined in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We want to be sure that the companies we invest in respect that right and look forward to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to align U.S. law more closely with international norms.”
The endorsers, from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several countries across Europe, are signatories to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have a significant impact on long-term financial returns.
A broader group of investors sent a second letter to all S&P 100 companies asking how they ensure the rights of their U.S. employees to form a union. The total assets under management of this group were US $757 billion (see signatories in attachment located in the related files tab at the top of the screen).
UNI Global Union strongly supports the endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act. Get involved today
| Passage of this vital legislation is the only way to stop the vicious race to the bottom that US multinationals are leading when it comes to working conditions and workers’ rights worldwide. You can find out more information about the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act at by reading UNI’s report: |
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