Posts tagged social
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.
EXCLUSIVE: Bill Cassidy To Introduce Bill To Stop Left-Wing Investing From Taking Over Retirement Funds
September 27, 2024 // “Asset managers should prioritize helping Americans achieve the best return for their retirement, not funneling their clients’ money to fund a left-wing political ideology,” Cassidy, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, said. “This legislation protects 152 million Americans who depend on a strong retirement to live after their career is over.” Under current Department of Labor rules, administrators of employee retirement plans are allowed to consider ESG factors when choosing between investment opportunities they have determined to be of equivalent quality. If a retirement fund determines multiple investment options are of equal value under Cassidy’s bill, it must document how it made that determination and then choose at random between the options.
Republican challenge to ESG investing rule could showcase risk to US agency powers
July 10, 2024 // The high court did just that in a June ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, saying judges instead should exercise their independent judgment in evaluating agency rules. That decision is expected to have a widespread impact on the government's ability to adopt new rules such as environmental, securities and labor regulations, and is part of a broader effort by conservative groups to rein in the powers of what they call "the administrative state."
Has Pushback to Full of ‘S’ Labor Unions Finally Arrived?
June 10, 2024 // Written by I4AW’s Sam Adolphsen and F. Vincent Vernuccio, the study warns that the initial “Environmental” focus of ESG is being supplanted by labor leaders, who are focusing on the leftist acronym’s “social” component in order to intimidate companies and force membership growth: With help from the whole of Biden’s big government, Big Labor is replicating the ESG strategies used by environmentalists and other activists. These groups aim to cajole fossil fuel-producing companies and other businesses they consider socially unacceptable into abandoning profitable business ventures. The tactics of the Big Labor plan call for hijacking the shareholder resolution process through proxy voting and shareholder activism to force pro-union policies. Unlike typical shareholder proposals, those supported by Big Labor do not seek to advance shareholder value. Instead, they seek to increase union membership and strengthen Big Labor’s power.
Unions using ESG to control workers — and drain Americans’ retirement savings
March 21, 2024 // They’re pushing board nominees and shareholder proposals that aim to force more workers into union membership, even when workers don’t want it. The Biden administration has smoothed the path for this underhanded strategy, and not only does it threaten workers, it endangers millions of Americans’ retirement savings. A new Institute for the American Worker report shines a light on labor unions’ reliance on ESG.
House attempt to override Biden comes up short Labor Department regulation regarding ESG investments will stand
March 24, 2023 // "Thanks to Democrats, workers can be placed into ESG investment vehicles by default, and if a fiduciary finds that two investments are equal, the fiduciary is allowed to use collateral ESG factors to break the tie, without justifying or documenting that decision,” Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, said during the floor debate on the veto message.