News Archives » faith responsible investing

The Spring 2009 issue of JPIC Report now available March 18th, 2009

The Spring issue of JPIC Report is now available, with hyperlinks to email addresses and websites mentioned in the text. (Download PDF)

Click here to read more »

RugMark 2007 Report Details Recent Successes August 18th, 2008

ICCR and the Oblates have partnered with RugMark Foundation in filing Corporate Resolutions and other actions to stop child labor in the rug-making industry – a problem particularly in South Asia. RugMark has saved over 3,200 children from a grueling life of exploitation at the loom.

Read about RugMark’s most recent successes and their “Most Beautiful Rug” consumer awareness campaign in a new report, available on-line.

RugMark’s website features stories of the children found by RugMark inspectors who have been given a chance to attend school and make a better life for themselves and their families. Learn more…

“Say on Pay” Wins Majority Votes June 18th, 2008

“Say on Pay” is a campaign to give shareholders a voice in executive compensation. The Missionary Oblates co-filed “Say on Pay” Resolutions through ICCR with Apple Computer and Cisco Systems this year.

Brought about by excessive compensation packages for corporate executives, over 90 “Say on Pay” proposals were filed with companies in the 2008 filing season. Pay vote proposals have averaged 43.1% support over the 35 meetings where results are known. To date, nine majority votes have been recorded so far.

Click here to read more »

Socially Responsible Investors Call upon HR Council to extend mandate of UN Rep June 3rd, 2008

Seamus Finn, OMI joined other faith-based and socially responsible investors calling upon the Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the UN Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises (SRSG).

A letter to the Council stated: “We are committed to using our leverage as investors to encourage more responsible corporate conduct, and to promote a deeper understanding and respect for international human rights standards on the part of business. …Consistent with the SRSG’s framework, we believe that significant and urgent work must be undertaken by companies to scrutinize their own operations to minimize the possibility of complicity in human rights abuses. We also believe that greater disclosure of corporate information related to human rights policy and performance will enable investors to correlate the financial performance of companies with prudent management of human rights-related risks in general and to assess the possibility of human rights-related corporate liability in particular.” Continuance of the SRSG is important to the success of this work by socially responsible investors.

(Download PDF of letter)

Labor Standards Compliance Project Report Released May 8th, 2008

The final report of Project Kaleidoscope, a multi-year effort to improve compliance with labor standards among overseas contractors and suppliers, was released in April 2008 by a working group that included the Missionary Oblates, Disney and McDonald’s.

McDonald’s Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and a group of organizations working to improve working conditions in company supply chains, including the Missionary Oblates, announced the release of the final report of Project Kaleidoscope, a multi-year collaborative project designed to promote sustained compliance with labor standards mandated by corporate codes of conduct for manufacturers.

The project was piloted at 10 contractor factories in southern China that produce goods for McDonald’s restaurants and Disney licensees. This collaborative effort developed and successfully field-tested an alternative approach to promoting and enhancing long-term, sustained code compliance.

For many years, McDonald’s and Disney have maintained strict codes of conduct for their licensees and manufacturers. These codes address a range of key labor rights issues including the prohibition of forced and child labor and the setting of requirements in such areas as health and safety, working hours, compensation, and compliance with applicable laws. In addition, both companies report that they have been active in undertaking educational, monitoring, and remediation efforts to promote compliance with these codes at the factories where their products are sourced throughout the world.

The project was launched as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the effectiveness of these labor standards by drawing on the interest and expertise of interested investor organizations and jointly exploring means of promoting ‘sustained compliance’ with labor codes. The project sought to foster the creation and testing of internal systems within factories in order to promote such compliance over time, including enhanced training and education for management, supervisors, and workers, and potential positive compliance incentives. The project also sought methods of encouraging remediation in facilities that demonstrate significant compliance issues, in order to minimize circumstances in which factory termination is the only business alternative.

In pursuing the project the group worked with local nongovernmental organizations as well as individual factories with the goal of developing practical implementation approaches, including training and remediation methods and tools. The project’s first Interim Report was published in January 2005.

The project grew out of mutual concerns discussed during the extended dialogue among the investor group and the two companies regarding ways to improve conditions in factories on a sustained basis.

In addition to The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, The Walt Disney Company and McDonalds, the Project Kaleidoscope Working Group consisted of the As You Sow Foundation; the Center for Reflection, Education and Action (CREA); the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office (fiduciary for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds); Domini Social Investments LLC, the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church; and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).

Return to Top