News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
Oblate Shareholder Activism Appreciated May 22nd, 2013
Oblate shareholder activism was recognized recently by Richard Eskow*, blogging on Huffington Post about the morality (or lack thereof) of our financial system. Here is an excerpt from his blog:
“Unethical or lawbreaking bankers are morally responsible for their actions. We didn’t break the law or throw people out of their homes. They did.
But even if we don’t share in the guilt, we share the responsibility. Did we do everything we could to stop them? They’re too powerful, people will say, and that’s true. But we have a responsibility to try, and to keep on trying, no matter what. We have a responsibility to engage in the great effort, which is a struggle for better regulation and a more humane economy. It’s also a struggle for hearts and minds – Dimon’s, the media’s, and our own. We should be demanding more – of the banks that serve us, of the media that entertain (if not inform) us, of the government agencies that work for us.
Futures
And we should be demanding more of us. These union pension funds, institutional investors at JPMorgan Chase, took action today to change the way business is done there. So did Father Seamus Finn of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, who introduced one of the resolutions on behalf of a family trust with JPM shares.
More of us need to join them in concerted, constructive economic activism. We can also work to reduce our dependence on the kinds of loans that lead to financial servitude, to the extent that’s possible in this harsh economic climate.”
Read the Huffington Post blog by Richard Eskow on JP Morgan Chase
*Richard Eskow is a writer, and host of ‘The Breakdown’, as well as a Senior Fellow at Campaign for America’s Future
MidWest Aquifers Drying Up May 21st, 2013
The High Plains Aquifer, a once-bountiful water source that covers broad swaths of the Midwestern United States, has been drained to dangerously low levels, especially in the south. The aquifer, according to the The New York Times, no longer supports irrigation on hundreds of miles of farmland in Texas and Kansas.
Learn more about the growing crisis of water in America…
Oblates and other Faith-Based and Socially Responsible Investors Work to Clean up Garment Industry Supply Chain May 16th, 2013
The Missionary Oblates, Oblate Investment Pastoral and GS-JPIC Rome have joined with more than 100 other institutional investors, with over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, in a statement condemning the broken supply chain system in the garment industry, especially in Bangladesh. This system, much of which urgently needs fixing, continues to result in huge loss of life in unsafe factories, as well as unfair remuneration for workers, many of whom are young parents.
This large coalition of religious groups and investors is pressing major American retailers to join a sweeping plan to improve safety in Bangladesh apparel factories, calling on them to act together to force changes in overseas workplaces.
Read the article about investor activism in the garment sector in the New York Times…
List of Signatories to the investor statement…
Additional press coverage:
Clothing Retailers Pressed on Safety Issues May 12th, 2013
Photo credit: Emma L. Herman
The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI (OMI JPIC Office Director) was quoted in a recent New York Times article on the building collapse and fires in the Bangladesh garment industry, saying: “What happened in Bangladesh is a game-changer because of the gravity of the situation and the tremendous loss of life,” Father Finn said. “People are really coming to life about this and saying, ‘We need to do something.’ ”
Rev. Finn is circulating a letter among other faith-based and socially responsible investors – groups that control more than $100 billion in assets — expressing displeasure with U.S. retailers. He says the retailers have not done nearly enough to improve workplace safety for the more than three million garment workers in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh labor costs in the garment manufacturing industry are the lowest in the world. Decent factory operations there are under tremendous pressure from their purchasers to lower costs, with the buyers threatening to ‘take their business down the road’ unless their terms are met.
JPIC Staff Visits Bangladesh May 3rd, 2013
Christina Herman, JPIC Office Associate Director, visited Bangladesh in late March/early April. Her daughter, Emma, accompanied her, taking thousands of photos and copious notes. Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI graciously hosted a ten day trip around the Sylhet region of NE Bangladesh, which provided a fascinating look at the lives of the indigenous Khasi people and the issues confronting their villages. The Oblate mission in Bangladesh started in the Sylhet region, and there are a number of parishes among the indigenous peoples of the area.
Frequent national strikes (or hartals) called by a political opposition determined to undermine the government made the trip challenging, but the group covered a lot of ground.
Sharif Jamil, Buriganga RiverKeeper
In Dhaka, Christina teamed up with the Bangladesh WaterKeeper, Sharif Jamil, in an examination of environmental and labor issues related to the leather and garment export industries. They visited the Buriganga River, leather tanneries north of the city, a massive garment factory, and had a number of informative meetings with factory owners and managers, labor union organizers, and environmentalists.
Polluted Water from Leather Tanneries flows into the Buriganga River
The tanneries are a large source of pollution for the main river flowing through Dhaka, a megacity of an estimated 18 million people. Millions depend on the rivers for bathing, washing clothes, and transportation, yet they are heavily polluted with industrial and human waste. Human Rights Watch recently issued a study of the health impacts of the tanneries, which matched the findings of this trip. Untreated industrial waste flowing from the garment factories is common. A huge factor in the pollution is the lack of adequate sewage treatment for the city’s burgeoning population.
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