Committee on Workers Capital - CWC - Latest Bulletin

Articles en français/ Noticias en castillano NEWS FROM THE CWC SECRETARIAT CWC Conference The CWC Conference will be held on Sunday September 24- Monday September 25 in Berlin, Germany ahead of the PRI In Person meeting. The annual conference is the premier forum for international collaboration and dialogue between trade unions and pension fund trustees to effect change in the global economy through the responsible investment of workers’ capital. This year's event will bring together board members from some of the largest asset owners (e.g.: ABP, ATP, CalSTRS, FRR, LUCRF Super) and trade union representatives from more than 15 countries.  Register Read the provisional agenda Read our travel, hotel and event information Information en français, información en español Trustee Profile Series The CWC published the second of a series of action profiles on how pension trustees from across the world deal with salient ESG issues at the board level. Read our profile of Sharon Hendricks, vice-chair of the California State Teacher's Retirement System in English, en français, en español Read our first profile featuring Dutch pension fund ABP vice-chair José Meijer in English, en français, in Japanese  Archer Capital Archer Capital is an Australian private equity firm that holdsAeroCare, a provider of outsourced flight support services in Australia and New Zealand. AeroCare secured a non-union collective agreement that undermines the rights of AeroCare workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and fails to conform to Award Safety Net Minimum Standards for the Australian aviation industry.  The CWC, on behalf of ACTU and its affiliates, is kindly asking that union-nominated pension trustees raise at their Board the fund’s exposure to Archer Capital and, if there is exposure, request that investment managers engage with the company to discuss appropriate social governance standards. For more  information, refer to the ACTU/CWC Investor Brief Financial Times: Australia pension industry targets private equity over labour practices ABC Australia: Airport staff sleeping at work say they cannot afford to go home Trustee Leadership Forum On June 12th, José Meijer, ABP vice-chair and chair of the CWC trustee leadership group, along with Hugues Létourneau, senior program officer with the CWC, held a discussion with US trustees during the Trustee Leadership Forum about practical pathways to elevate the profile of workers' and human rights in the investment chain. The presentation was tied to the promotion of the CWC Guidelines for the Evaluation of Workers's Human Rights and Labour Standards. NEWS AND NOTES FROM CWC PARTICIPANTS Australia The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) provided CWC participants with an update on its work on the "ESG/Labour Standards Ratings Project", a labour standards code for infrastructure investments and the workers' capital stream of the NexGen Conference. Read the full update here France The Réseau d'Administrateurs pour l'Investissement Responsable (RAIR) and Proxinvest supported CtW Investment Group in asking the Autorité des marchés financiers [French Securities Commission] to examine irregularities in the governance structure of the Renault-Nissan alliance. On behalf of RAIR, Proxinvest and CtW, a French labour-nominated trustee raised corporate governance questions at the Renault AGM on June 15th, as well as questions regarding the company's efforts to deny workers at its Mississippi, USA plant the right to freedom of association.  Read the CtW/RAIR/Proxinvest press release [in French] Le Monde: Renault : des actionnaires en appellent au gendarme de la Bourse au sujet d’une filiale du constructeur Reuters: Renault-Nissan/Gouvernance-Des actionnaires interpellent l'AMF The Netherlands The FNV published a Roadmap for Trustees in Pension Funds Relating to Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining. The document, written by Thérèse Schets, aims to support boards of trustees of pension funds in assuming their responsibility to formulate and/or review and implement a responsible investment policy in which fundamental labour standards are embedded. This roadmap was developed in response to studies that indicate that little attention is devoted to the social component of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Read the Roadmap here United States The AFL-CIO urged US representatives to oppose the Financial Create Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs (CHOICE) Act of 2017 (H.R.10) as it would "result in significant harm to working people who depend on the integrity of financial markets and to our nation’s economy as a whole." Read the AFL-CIO Legislative Alert Read the Council of Institutional Investors' letter to Paul Ryan: The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 With over 200 members from 25 different countries, the Committee on Workers' Capital is an international labour union network for dialogue and action on the responsible investment of workers capital. SUBSCRIBE BECOME A MEMBER IMPORTANT READS Renewable energy investor briefing: Managing risks & responsibilities for impacts on local communities: This Business & Human Rights Resource Centre briefing sets out how investors can manage their human rights risks and responsibilities related to their investments in renewable energy. Who’s responsible? Pension funds and respect for workers’ rights: This report examines whether European pension funds – built to provide a decent retirement for working people – are also acting to protect those workers’ rights ahead of retirement. Clarification on OECD Guidelines Raises Expectations of Canadian Institutional Investors: This oped discusses investor due diligence in Canada under the OECD Guidelines for MNEs.

Workers Capital News is a news-forwarding service for CWC members. These news items do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the CWC or its members. The CWC is the joint ITUC | Global Union Federations | TUAC Committee on Workers’ CapitaL © 2016 Committee on Workers' Capital (CWC) PO Box 11171, Royal Centre 26th Floor, 1055 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC V6E 3R5