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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, has filed shareholder proposals urging Kimberly-Clark and Cooper Industries, Ltd. to ensure that their overseas suppliers respect workers’ human rights. 

“United States companies which employ workers in the United States and abroad should guarantee all their workers the same basic rights on the job,” Thompson said. “Increasingly, consumers are expressing their concerns that products be manufactured safely and under working conditions that are fair to workers. In the interests of their shareholders, companies should respond to consumers’ concerns and avoid potential declines in share value.”

Based on the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on workplace human rights and the draft United Nations’ Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations with Regard to Human Rights, the workplace rights include: banning child labor; protecting workers’ right to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; prohibiting discrimination of worker representatives; barring discrimination and intimidation in employment; and, forbidding forced labor, including bonded or prison labor.

The proposals ask the companies to commit to “the implementation of a code of conduct based on the aforementioned ILO human rights standards and United Nations’ Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations with Regard to Human Rights by its international suppliers and in its own international production facilities, and commit to a program of outside, independent monitoring of compliance with these standards.” A proposal can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

The Pension Funds are the: New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System of New York  City (TRS), New York City Police Department Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

“As shareholders of these companies, we must use our influence to encourage and implement fair labor practices,” said New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and NYCERS Trustee. “When it comes to human rights, fair practices are non-negotiable, regardless of where in the world these businesses operate. It is essential we agree upon the need for certain codes of conduct that ensure child labor, forced labor and discrimination are permanently curtailed.”

The Funds resubmitted the proposal to Kimberly-Clark of Dallas, TX, in which the Funds hold 1,403,175 shares valued at $97,296,154 and to Cooper Industries, Ltd. of Houston, TX, in which the Funds hold 558,721 shares worth $29,545,166.

The trustees for the Pension Funds are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Michael Currid, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Thomas Drogan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association

New York City Employees’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

Teachers’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

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