Sprawl-Busters, as part of The Make TIAA-CREF coalition, is asking everyone to make a toll-free call between January 23rd and January 25th. to the head of the large pension fund, asking the Fund to use their investor’s pressure to make Wal-Mart behave more responsibly towards its communities, its workers, and the workers in its factory supply chain. TIAA-CREF is a large stockholder, yet has used none of its investments to, as the Fund says, invest for the “greater good.” Rather than encourage Wal-Mart to behave like a responsible corporate citizen, TIAA-CREF has viewed Wal-Mart as an investment only, with no social responsibility to the communities it serves, or to its own 1.2 million person workforce. The Make TIAA-CREF coalition is meeting with the pension fund’s officers on February 2nd, but a demonstration in New York City is planned for January 25th to encourage TIAA-CREF to take a more responsible position towards its holdings in not only Wal-Mart, but Costco, Coke, NIKE, Altria/Philip Morris, and Chevron. Let TIAA-CREF know that any pension fund that buys Wal-Mart stock is buying into their irresponsible behavior towards their workers and their communities. Call 1-800-842-2733 and ask to speak with CEO Herb Allison. And email him at: [email protected]. You will be connected to an aide, but leave your message, “Tell Mr. Allison we are not pleased that TIAA-CREF continues to believe that owning Wal-Mart stock is for the ‘greater good.’ TIAA-CREF could do some greater good by holding Wal-Mart to a higher standard, by paying their workers a living wage, and giving them decent health insurance, and respecting the wishes of communities for smaller, less environmentally harmful stores.”
For earlier stories on TIAA-CREF, search Newsflash by the name of the pension fund.
