Posts tagged annual shareholder meeting
Shrinking unions grasp hold of power through ESG activism
May 11, 2026 // Under the ESG pretense, unions are pushing shareholder resolutions that would ditch secret-ballot elections at companies. That’s a key labor demand because it enables unions to harass and intimidate workers into publicly signing cards in favor of unionization. Unions also push shareholder resolutions ordering companies to adopt “non-interference policies,” ensuring a business can’t talk to its employees about the downsides of unionization. Practically, unions promote these policies in two significant ways. The simplest approach is to use their own pension funds, which invest hundreds of billions of dollars, to demand that the businesses they invest in adopt pro-union policies. Union officials are also appointed to pension boards, where they directly support activist investment strategies based on ESG. Public pension plans have great clout thanks to the trillions of dollars at their disposal, enough to take significant ownership stakes in banks or investment funds. Either approach lets organized labor push shareholder proposals that tilt the scales in unions’ favor.
Sisters wield power as shareholders to force corporate reforms
July 2, 2025 // The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace this year put forth a proposal to require Ford Motor Co. to stop fighting unionizing efforts at its new battery plants and to work with local residents who would be impacted by the new factories. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accepted Ford's request to remove the proposal, so it never went to a vote. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary co-filed the request. "But we're still at the table and we're still raising the voices of the local community," Francois said. "We just want the neighbors to be in dialogue with Ford." IASJ, formerly the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investing, was started by congregations of religious in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey in 1975.