View VF Contract Suppliers Standards

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), has reached an agreement with the VF Corporation regarding workplace human rights policies for its global suppliers.

"We are very pleased that VF's Board of Directors agreed to review and publicly report on its global suppliers' compliance of its labor standards," Thompson said.  "We commend VF for taking a responsible approach to its business operations and demonstrating that it is accountable to its shareholders."

Last November, NYCERS resubmitted a resolution to VF Corporation of Greensboro , NC , asking that VF conduct the review. Christian Brothers Investment Services co-sponsored the resolution. NYCERS submitted the resolution to VF for the first time in 2003 and received enough shareholder votes to be able to resubmit the resolution again this season.

"VF's decision to evaluate its own monitoring program shows that the company understands the importance of protecting labor rights, both for workers and shareholders," said Christian Brothers Investment Services' Director John K. S. Wilson.           

VF's Board of Directors recently agreed with the City's request, and voted to specifically address issues concerning labor rights, health and safety compliance, and its auditing process in a report to be filed by the end of 2005.

"We understand and share shareholders' interest in workers' rights issues," VF stated in a letter to the Comptroller. "VF considers our monitoring and compliance efforts to be essential to our policies."

As a result, NYCERS has withdrawn its shareholder resolution. The City's five funds own 356,759 shares valued at about $21.5 million in VF. 

Thompson, on behalf of the City's five pension funds, recently submitted shareholder resolutions to a dozen other companies seeking that they implement and review their compliance with a code of conduct that includes banning child labor, allowing all workers to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively, prohibiting discrimination of worker representatives, barring discrimination or intimidation in employment, and, not using forced labor, including bonded or prison labor.

The trustees of the City's five pension boards are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson, 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; Peter Gorman, President and Captains' Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs' Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants' Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson; Mayor Bloomberg; Commissioner Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen's Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.

NYCERS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields (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, Carroll (Carl) Haynes, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

TRS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner 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.

BERS: Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Phillip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Augusta Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Jacquelyn Kamin (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens) and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

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