As an organization, the AFT is concerned not only with the working conditions of faculty and staff in higher education, but also with promoting fair labor standards for all workers.  Today, the AFT Executive Council continued that commitment by urging TIAA-CREF to promote better corporate governance and social responsibility among the companies in which it invests. A significant number of AFT members in higher education have their pensions invested in TIAA-CREF.  In response to concerns raised by those members, the Council unanimously passed a resolution entitled "Aligning TIAA-CREF Investment Policies with Participant Ethical Standards."

"This resolution is intended to press TIAA-CREF to use their resources and investment capacity to push corporations to act ethically and responsibly with regard to labor" stated AFT vice-president Phil Smith, who moved the adoption of the resolution.  Smith, President of the United University Professions at the State University of New York, went on to note the resolution was "in line with the socially conscious perspective of AFT members."

The resolution calls for TIAA-CREF to:

• strengthen its commitment and to devote further resources to promote human, civil and labor rights in its investment screening, shareholder advocacy, community investments and public policy; and
• substantially strengthen its capacity for the oversight and engagement of the companies in which it invests; and
• adopt an explicit policy of engaging all of its portfolio companies to promote the ILO Core Labor Standards, which include:
• Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor
• Effective abolition of child labor
• Equality of opportunity and treatment
• Freedom of association
• Right to collective bargaining
• significantly increase its transparency and disclosure of its screening practices and its shareholder advocacy on issues of human, civil and labor rights.

AFT has been in an on-going dialogue with TIAA-CREF on these issues and will continue to encourage TIAA-CREF to improve its corporate governance guidelines in these key areas related to labor.