Businessweek: Religious Groups Urge Brands to Address Bangladesh Plant Safety
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Lindsey Rupp writes: “Investors including Trillium Asset Management, U.S. pension funds and religious groups are putting additional pressure on retailers with suppliers in Bangladesh to disclose and improve safety in factories. One group has written to retailers asking them to commit to an international safety agreement that’s supported by labor monitoring groups and signed by 37 brands. In a separate letter, investors including public pension funds are urging companies to know and make public their suppliers and to ensure compliance with safety standards. A letter drafted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of faith-based investors …
Investor Statement on Bangladesh
May 16, 2013: In light of a series of recent calamities in Bangladesh apparel manufacturing plants resulting in an overwhelming loss of life, we, the undersigned investors and stakeholders including 123 organizations representing over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, are calling on industry leaders to implement systemic reforms that will ensure worker safety and welfare, and to adopt zero tolerance policies on global supply chain abuses. The November fire in the Tazreen garment factory, the collapse in April of the Rana Plaza, and a second deadly fire on May 8th in a sweater factory in Dhaka have resulted in …
Information for Current Men’s Wearhouse Shareholders Regarding Trillium’s 2013 Shareholder Proposal
On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management filed a 2013 shareholder resolution with Men’s Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) which asks the Company’s Board of Directors to: “issue an annual sustainability report describing The Men’s Wearhouse’s short- and long-term responses to ESG-related issues. The report should include, where feasible, objective statistical indicators and goals relating to each issue, be prepared at a reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information and be made available by December 15, 2013”. The resolution appears on page 27 of the Company’s 2013 proxy materials and is opposed by management. You can find more information and read Trillium’s rationale …
Trillium Confronts Lowe's Over Decision To Cut Ads On All-American Muslim
Recently, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) pulled advertising from a television show, All-American Muslim, after the Florida Family Association (FFA) complained about the content of the show. The reality show follows the lives of a group of Muslim-American families in a Detroit suburb with a sizable Muslim population and addresses issues of religious intolerance and discrimination. According to reports, the FFA called the show “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” As Lowe’s shareholders, we found the company’s decision and subsequent handling of the controversy abhorrent and failed to live up to …
Seasonal Wrap-up: Trillium's 2011 Engagement Highlights
Trillium Asset Management, LLC, a Boston-based pioneer in the field of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, reported out today on the results of its 2011 proxy season engagements with nearly two dozen major U.S. corporations. (For a full listing of our 2011 Shareholder Proposals, scroll to the end of the page.) “A good portion of our dialogues and resolutions resulted in agreements with companies to improve policies and provide more transparency,” said Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium. “Both are helpful in assessing the environmental, social and governance risks and their financial impact on shareholders.” Trillium’s ESG program addressed a …
Large Investor Coalition Urges Chevron to Explore Settlement in Rainforest Pollution Lawsuit; Related Shareholder Proposal Gets 25% of Vote
“The entire case is looming like a hammer over shareholders’ heads. Chevron should start fresh with a new approach that embraces environmental responsibility and risk management as part of its corporate culture. More legal proceedings will only delay the inevitable.” ~ New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli …
"Chevron chiefs face shareholders after huge $18bn Ecuador fine"
Shelley Alpern, Trillium’s Director of ESG Research and Shareholder Advocacy, was quoted in guardian.co.uk on May 25, 2011: “The Ecuadorian courts are but one step away from seizing Chevron’s assets to pay for the record $18bn judgment. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to hope that a settlement agreement might be brokered that comes in below this extraordinary amount, puts funds to work immediately restoring the polluted areas, and helps Chevron put this reputational disaster behind it.” Click here to read the article. Click here to read Trillium’s press release about the request made to the SEC to review Chevron’s shareholder disclosures. …
Trillium Asks Securities and Exchange Commission to Investigate Chevron Corporation’s Disclosures Re Historic Ecuadorian Judgment
Contact: Shelley Alpern, Trillium (617) 292-8026, x 248 Jonas Kron, Esq., Trillium (503) 592-0864 Sanford Lewis, Esq. (413) 549-7333 Boston, MA, May 23, 2011 – Trillium Asset Management (“Trillium”) has requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) undertake a staff review to examine whether Chevron Corp. has appropriately disclosed to its shareholders the scope and magnitude of financial and operational risk from a recent adverse legal judgment in Ecuador. In its letter, Trillium states its belief that the issues raised may have “the potential to rise to the level of materiality under the securities laws.” After nearly two decades …
Trillium Calls for Improved Working Conditions in China
Trillium Asset Management Corporation (Trillium) is leading a group of 40 international investors in issuing a public statement condemning abusive workplace conditions in the global electronics supply chain. The lead group of investors, including Trillium, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, As You Sow and Domini Social Investments LLC, are sending a strong message to the electronics manufacturers in their portfolios urging stricter supply chain compliance. The statement, which follows many years of work on human rights in supply chains, was prompted by the recent suicides at the Foxconn Technology Group factories in China which manufacture consumer electronics …
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