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Nice Guys (and Girls) Do Win... and More Often |
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McDonald's and Taco Bell's tomato pickers in Florida are now receiving more pennies per pound than they did a year ago. Coca-Cola workers at risk for HIV-AIDS in Africa now have employer-supplied benefits. General Electric's Hudson River PCB pollution is finally closer to clean up. Most big retailers of violent video games aren't selling them to children anymore. And Halliburton subcontractor violations of human rights in New Orleans, Peru, Iraq and Niger is bound to improve. It turns out that these successes of BVM shareholder activism aren't flukes. They're a result of special attitudes held by people of faith. When corporations want to partner-up to achieve a particular goal, they find it difficult. Consultants specializing in strategic alliances report that seven of ten joint endeavors fail because the businesses don't share the same values or cultures, and successful business alliances rely on good people-to-people relationships. ICCR is Key Having similar values and an inherent respect for the ideas of others helps explain why BVMs, participating with other investor-members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, have had excellent results achieving social change. Relationships within the working groups at ICCR benefit from members who live in communities where consensus and cooperation are the norm. ICCR is an association of 275 faith-based investors including Catholic religious communities, health care organizations, Protestant, Jewish, fire, police and service unions. BVMs have a small percentage of their resources in a Shareholder Activism Fund used to purchase stock in a few huge corporations in order to give voice to the voiceless on issues of economic poverty, oppression, women, children, militarism and the environment. Recently, ICCR executive director Laura Berry cited the coalition's motto, “inspired by faith; committed to action,” and said, “We have created a system that we believe challenges corporations to bridge the divide between markets and morality. We envision a civic economy that integrates ethical, environmental and social values.” Today, BVMs
A dozen Sisters and Associates comprise the BVM group, Shareholder Education and Advocacy (SEA). They are members of ICCR working groups focusing on issues related to
SEA members participate in monthly working group teleconferences with numerous colleagues from other organizations. They join the 8th Day Center for Justice's BVM staffer, Gwen Farry (Leontia), at ICCR meetings to plan the issues and corporations with which to engage. Working with Corporations Members may enter into formal dialogue with top management of the companies. Questions are asked and answered on a continuing basis, but if a company is unwilling to begin to change an unjust practice, the working group files a resolution for a shareholder vote at the company's annual meeting. These usually take place between March and June, the “proxy season.” In preparation, the September meeting of ICCR brings many calls from colleagues for “who owns” this company or that.
The power of persuasion sometimes needs economic clout which ownership in a company provides, even with a small number of shares. BVMs, with other ICCR members, are planting the seeds in major corporations that give hope that business will become more humane. The BVM core value of freedom encourages participation in work that frees others. Like silent partners, all BVMs participate in the shareholder work through their pension funds and prayer. Yet, gifts of cooperating, gentle listening and reciprocity are essential to the success of BVM corporate responsibility work. About the author: Associate Mary Kay Craig is a member of SEA and engages is social justice work in Butte, Mont. Return to Table of Contents. |
As the key person for BVM shareholder work, Gwen Farry attends the annual shareholder meetings of several companies. When she is the “lead filer,” she presents the ICCR resolution to the shareholders; when a co-filer, she attends in solidarity and may participate there in dialogue with management.