"shareholders rights" and unions

Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org
Wed Dec 19 15:57:44 PST 2001


----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>

Max Sawicky wrote:
>Not necessarily. There are union and state/local gov pension
>fund owners who have interests that are broader than rates of
>return. That's what this is really about.

-Legally, they're not allowed to assert those broader concerns. If -you're managing a pension fund, you're supposed to maximize returns, -not promote unions or social concerns. Unions have sometimes tried to -push an organizing agenda behind a screen of shareholder rights, but -it's a ruse. I'm told the lawyers have to leave the room when the -strategy is discussed, because they can't knowingly conspire to -violate the law.

State pension funds, governed largely by state laws, actually have more discretion that private union pensions funds under the law, one reason you hear more interesting things from CALPERS than most union funds who are under the heel of ERISA and Taft-Hartley.

But so what if the lawyers have to leave the room? And so far, as long as the concerns are legitimate in the non-social issues of shareholder responsibility, it doesn't matter if they have a secondary benefit to the union itself.


>More broadly, what workers' organization should get behind the
>principle of shareholder rights? Who the hell are these shareholders,
>and what have they ever done for the working class except claim their
>uncompensated labor?

"Shareholder rights" should more properly be described as minority shareholder rights, since those with majority control under the law are those in control of management. Since many workers do have their savings in stock funds, they are the epitome of minority shareholders-- at risk for their savings and at the mercy of the large capitalists actually in control of corporate America.

In any case, it can be argued that shareholder rights litigation inherently pits different capitalist groups against each other, and anything that divides the capitalist class opens up opportunities for the working class to exploit divisions for tactical and strategic gains. That is essentially the theory behind all corporate campaign work by unions.

-- Nathan Newman



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list