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onehandle

(51,122 posts)
Fri Jan 6, 2012, 12:53 PM Jan 2012

Walmart Blacklisted By Major Pension Fund Over Poor Labor Practices [View all]

A major pension fund and longtime investor in Walmart has blacklisted the retailing behemoth, citing poor labor practices and the company's anti-union stance as the driving force behind its rejection.

Walmart typically shrugs off criticism of its labor practices as union-driven propaganda and insists that its employees are happy and well-managed, but investing experts say that when one of the largest pension funds in the world divests, the company would be wise to listen to the message. It's the same message the American labor movement has been pushing for decades.

On Tuesday, the Netherlands' biggest pension fund, Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds, with more than $300 billion in assets, announced that it was blacklisting the largest retailer in the world for noncompliance with the United Nations' Global Compact principles. The Global Compact presents a set of core values relating to human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption efforts. Sixteen other companies were blacklisted along with Walmart, nearly all of them excluded for producing chemical or nuclear weapons that violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

ABP said on Wednesday that the decision to pull its investment from Walmart was not hasty. The fund declined to say how much money is involved, but according to ABP records, it had invested some 95 million euros, worth $121 million today, in U.S. Walmart stores as of June 30, 2011. The fund first sent a letter to Walmart executives in 2008, a year after ABP formalized its responsible-investing policy. Four years later, after many meetings with employees and all levels of management, ABP concluded the retail giant was still falling short.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/walmart-blacklist-abp-pension-fund_n_1186384.html

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Proud to K and R this one Kingofalldems Jan 2012 #1
Hope this picks up momentum FreakinDJ Jan 2012 #2
Of course, it would be a Dutch pension fund primavera Jan 2012 #3
Not to mention "pension fund" soon to be extinct in US JNelson6563 Jan 2012 #13
I have been very careful since Bush the Dumber stole the White House Doctor_J Jan 2012 #4
good for you! CountAllVotes Jan 2012 #7
Check out "ethical investing" Mopar151 Jan 2012 #19
Now if some other do this... Omaha Steve Jan 2012 #5
Glad to hear this.... jdadd Jan 2012 #6
If only the American pension funds would follow the Netherlands. sarcasmo Jan 2012 #8
If only America would follow the Netherlands. Period. marmar Jan 2012 #37
K&R n/t DeSwiss Jan 2012 #9
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund did this during Bush II Lars77 Jan 2012 #10
Lars77 Diclotican Jan 2012 #14
What was his name? John Ong or something like that? I only remember his pigface. Lars77 Jan 2012 #22
Lars77 Diclotican Jan 2012 #27
Or Trustees Stand On Principle Over Bottom Line Islandlife Jan 2012 #11
If Dennis Kucinich had proposed that people would be working nearly "full-time" and yet zbdent Jan 2012 #12
Wow! There's hope after all. Greybnk48 Jan 2012 #15
Walmart needs to be broken up. It has become a "government" within itself. humblebum Jan 2012 #16
More like a dictatorship - n/t primavera Jan 2012 #17
Good. Hit them where it hurts - the wallet. n/t sarge43 Jan 2012 #18
What would it take to organize lots of manufacturers (and consumers) to boycott Walmart? BenYehuda Jan 2012 #20
This is exactly the type of goal OWS should be pursuing. Clearly defined humblebum Jan 2012 #28
100% ....I will continue to look into this. BenYehuda Jan 2012 #32
It might also be suggested that antitrust laws be enforced. This humblebum Jan 2012 #33
You said it Humblebum fasttense Jan 2012 #36
Thanks for posting ashling Jan 2012 #21
Wilmart said: "Employees are happy and well-managed".. Yesss Sir, We's... BlueJazz Jan 2012 #23
K&R Sherman A1 Jan 2012 #24
I hate Walwart Canuckistanian Jan 2012 #25
International support for labor! freshwest Jan 2012 #26
Sweet. blue neen Jan 2012 #29
Proud to be Rec #100! Bozita Jan 2012 #30
just heard this on the radio, puts a face to made in china flpab Jan 2012 #34
I'd love to see more of this. PA Democrat Jan 2012 #31
fuck Walmart stockholmer Jan 2012 #35
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