New York City Pension Funds Press For Gay Worker Rights

Once again the the New York City Employees' Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, New York City Teachers' Retirement System and New York City Board of Education Retirement System will use their massive clout to press corporations to implement gay-positive policies and benefits. The funds in the past have unsuccessfully pressed EXXON-Mobil to end its anti-gay discriminatory polices but have seen the number of shareholder against equality declining each year. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/01/012908com.htm):

(New York City) New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. announced Tuesday that he will use the massive clout of the NYC Pension Funds to press two-dozen of America's largest companies to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, the five Pension Funds have more than $110 billion in holdings.

The Funds hold nearly 30 million shares worth nearly $2.2 billion in the companies announced Tuesday. Thompson's announcement continues several years of pressure on companies in which the funds own shares. This year's targets are double the number of companies singled out last year Thompson said.

"Each year, more companies are making this commitment because they believe in guaranteeing equal treatment in the workplace. However, many of this country's largest corporations still refuse to protect all workers." The resolutions that Thompson has filed call for companies that have not already done so to revise their policies to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The companies are: HCC Insurance Holdings of Houston, TX; Timken Company of Canton, OH; ExxonMobil Corp. of Irving, TX; AK Steel Corp. of Middletown, OH; Fidelity National Financial, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL; Brink's Company of Richmond, VA; Liberty Global, Inc. of Englewood, CO; Lyondell Chemical Company of Houston, TX; Eastman Chemical Co. of Kingsport, TN; Tesoro Corp. of San Antonio, TX; Apache Corp. of Houston, TX; Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado, AR; Kelly Services, Inc. of Troy, MI; EchoStar Communications Corp. of Englewood, CO; Huntsman Corp. of Salt Lake City, UT; Marshall & Ilsley Corp. of Milwaukee, WI; Frontier Oil Corp. of Houston, TX; Borg Warner. Inc. of Auburn Hills, MI; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of The Woodlands, TX; Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, GA; Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Insurance) of Erie, PA; SPX Corporation of Charlotte, NC; American Financial Group, Inc. of Cincinnati, OH; and, Leggett & Pratt, Inc. of Carthage, MO.