So why is this committee and its work relevant to you?
In many countries around the world, in addition to state provision workers participate in occupational pension schemes that build up pools of capital to help provide retirement income. The money coming from the pension funds which workers in these countries pay into is what we call ‘workers’ capital’. Your money, paid from your wages. That money is then invested. And that’s where the CWC comes in.
Workers’ retirement funds equal 84 per cent of world GDP (gross domestic product), that’s USD32 trillion. The CWC promotes dialogue between trade unions and the trustees of pension funds who have a say in how that huge amount of money is invested.
What trade unions want to see is money invested to promote decent work, a sustainable future and secure retirement for workers. Because of the huge amount of their money that’s invested in infrastructure and global business, workers have the power to push for those organisations to be held to the highest social and environmental standards. Because workers’ capital from one country is often invested in companies employing other workers overseas, unions need to collaborate globally.
Workers’ capital was the driving force behind a call from National Express shareholders earlier this year for there to be independent monitoring at the company’s US school bus subsidiary, Durham. Workers and union representatives went to the National Express annual general meeting and spoke about the anti-union practices happening at Durham. Around a quarter of independent shareholders backed the demand for an investigation into allegations of anti-union activity in Durham. This was a record vote for a shareholder resolution on labour issues at a UK PLC. Get the full story here.
Watch this film for more on the power of your money:
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