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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
2.09.2005 ET
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'Make TIAA-CREF Ethical' Coalition Asks $330 Billion Teacher's Pension Fund to Promote Corporate Responsibility; Coalition Submits Shareholder Resolution Before February 10 Deadline
(CSRwire) NEW YORK - The Make-TIAA-CREF Ethical coalition, comprised of
worldwide organizations* dedicated to social responsibility, recently met
with the powerful teachers' pension fund TIAA-CREF and asked them to take
the following actions:
Drop its stock in Philip Morris/Altria, the world's largest tobacco
corporation;
Pressure Nike and Wal-Mart to end sweatshop abuses worldwide; urge
Wal-Mart to stop its destructive impact on local economies and close its
Teotihuacan, Mexico store - or divest from those companies if changes are
not made;
Urge Unocal to improve its human rights record in Burma - or divest
if changes are not made;
Pressure retailer Costco to close its illegally constructed
warehouses in Mexico and end human rights abuses - or divest;
Support the proxy resolution of the New York City pension funds for
an independent investigation of human rights abuse associated with
Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia - and pressure The Coca-Cola Co. to
agree to such an investigation; also, pressure Coca-Cola to end all
marketing (including Coke toys, in-school marketing, and product
placement) aimed at children - or divest;
Pledge to buy no new World Bank bonds as long as bank policies
contribute to economic instability around the globe - TIAA-CREF previously
divested such holdings
(See www.makeTIAA-CREFethical.org/
for a general description of the effort and information on the coalition
Organizations Calling for Greater Social Responsibility and Corporate
Governance from TIAA-CREF)
Representatives of the coalition just sent a letter to top executives of
TIAA-CREF as a follow-up to meeting with them in November (see the letter
at www.maketiaa-crefethical.org/).
It lists many ways that TIAA-CREF can promote corporate responsibility.
And it asks for another meeting to discuss a timetable for progress on
these issues.
"At the last meeting we received assurances that they would take our
concerns seriously, as their rules require; we are now awaiting real
action," says coalition spokesperson Jeffrey Ballinger. "TIAA-CREF has
been a leader in some ways in promoting corporate responsibility; we want
them to live up to that regarding our concerns." One coalition member is
also acting through the shareholders. Citizen's Coalition is submitting a
resolution to TIAA-CREF for divestment from Costco and Wal-Mart, before
the February 10 deadline.
"Our members have witnessed firsthand the attacks on the environment,
health, labor, and human culture perpetrated by irresponsible
corporations," says Ballinger. The coalition's motto, "Out of the bad and
into the good," argues that TIAA-CREF's economic clout gives it the power
to also promote positive change, like community development, while still
protecting the investment of retirees.
The coalition notes that TIAA-CREF'S Policy Statement on Corporate
Governance promotes the importance of social responsibility and that
shareholder concerns should be taken into account. Research indicates that
addressing social concerns as part of an investment strategy does not hurt
returns and may even improve them. Indeed, TIAA-CREF's own socially
responsible Social Choice Account has been one of their best-performing
funds.
We think that it is a positive indication that TIAA-CREF has been open on
the issues we have raised, in particular direct investment in community
projects; however, Jaime Lagunez of Frente Civico, adds "We also view each
week that goes by as time wasted without using TIAA-CREF's economic clout
to truly benefit people worldwide. We hope that TIAA-CREF will live by
the implications of its new advertising tag-line, 'Financial Services for
the Greater Good'."
Members of the Make TIAA-CREF Ethical Coalition: * The US Campaign for
Burma * Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact)* World
Bank Bonds Boycott * Press for Change * Social Choice for Social Change *
Canadian Committee To Combat Crimes Against Humanity (CCCCH) * Citizens
Coalition (Frente Civico) * Educating for Justice * National Community
Reinvestment Coalition * National Congress for Community Economic
Development * Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc. *
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood*
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