Why Menzies Aviation is a health & safety investment nightmare: UNISON London Pension Network & SEIU

The group picture is from last Tuesday's lunchtime network meeting of London UNISON pension Member Nominated Representatives and Trustees.  I chair the network which has met every 3 months for the past 10 years or so. It is an opportunity for us to meet up and discuss pension and investment issues, training and Capital Stewardship. The pension world (and in particular the Local Government Pension Scheme) is undergoing massive changes and in the last year the network has been very active. 

Each meeting we try to have interesting guest speakers. This time we had invited Heather Szerlag and Wendy Weiner (centre of photo) from the 2 million strong SEIU which is a sister public service union to UNISON which organises in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Wendy and Heather briefed us on the investment and reputational risk that our pension funds face from investing in the British listed company Menzies. In the UK the company is best known for its retail newsagent chain but in the United States it owns Menzies Aviation which is a major international provider of services to airports.  

Many of these services are so called heavy manual or "below the wings"jobs. Which are hidden from public view and often dangerous. Menzies has an appalling health and safety record in the United States. Four Menzies workers have been killed in recent years and the company has had numerous fines and safety violations filed against it by the regulator including a "serious wilful risk" citation. Their record on safety is far worse than its competitors.

Not only is there a reputational risk to pension funds from its investments in Menzies there is also a clear financial risk since Menzies record is so bad it is in danger of losing its licence to operate at US airports. Top international carriers are also worried at the reputational risk of being associated with Menzies.

Menzies Aviation refuses to recognise trade unions which I think is cause and effect of its dangerous workplace practises. If they treat their workers in such a way I shudder at the thought of how they take passenger and aircrew safety. In the UK "Safety studies show that workers are twice as likely to be injured in a non-unionised workplace. This is because in unionised workplaces, employers are required to work with union-appointed safety reps and set up safety committees".

In order to protect its members SEIU is trying to highlight the issue and risk to investors. It was agreed for us to take this matter up with our investment managers and advisers.

I was very disappointed to learn that the biggest single investor in Menzies, the fund manager Schroders, refuses to meet or even talk to the SEIU? Schroders manage a 16.18% holding on behalf of investors and you would have thought that they would want to find out more about such significant  risks and I think they are being irresponsible not to do so.

Trade union renewal and the role of ideology, organising and servicing.

UNISONActive had an interesting post recently "Ideology - an essential component of union growth strategies". It argued that having an organising agenda alone does not work and that unions ought to be more "political". Organising is defined as  "empowering workers at work and in their union".

The American trade union SEIU has a world wide reputation for organising yet this has not resulted in an increase in trade union membership.  Instead this post believes that "Our core message has to address social injustice and the failure of market economies".

I tend to agree but I don't necessarily see any conflict with an union pursuing political goals as well as an organising model except of course that unions don't have unlimited resources so some form of prioritisation has to take place. 

Yet the solution offered is to "empower workers with an anti-caplitalist ideology". Which unsurprisingly as a fully paid up mixed economy reformist I don't agree with. We need to control the excesses of capitalism by political regulation, progressive taxation, quality public services and strong free trade unions. 

"Ideology" has always been a problem for unions but it is good to debate this issue and hopefully come to a consensus on what we can agree upon for the here and now.

I also think we should also mention in any discussion on trade union renewal the much maligned "servicing" model of trade unionism. I am a huge fan of organising and empowering members and stewards but if members need help at work then they have the right to expect speedy, responsive and competent representation. The best person to represent members on personal or collective issues is a trained, confident local rep who has the support of the membership. But reps need the support of the union and where there is no such local rep the union needs to be there.

Finally, we also need to think that if the Anglo-American school of trade unionism is declining then should we not be looking at those countries in Northern Europe where they seem to be more successful than us with much higher density levels and better protections for workers? 

3 Companies Project Awards

Organising, organising, organising...our new trade union mantra, especially in the outsourced private sector. The initial joint UNISON/SEIU 3 Companies project is now over. The self organising stage is next.

Good to see Bob Oram speaking (standing for re-election to NEC in North West region)

(Actually its always been about organising).

They Broke it, We Buy It?

Interesting to see what our cousins in trade Unions on the other side of the pond make of the current financial crisis.

The controversial Andy Stern, head of the 2 million strong SEIU, seems far more bolshie than heads of Brit unions. But looking at their demands it seems that having no real equivalent of the NHS, they have much, much more to complain about in the first place.

This may be a little unfair, but checking out their sites and blog, SEIU seem to be more anti-McCain than pro Barack Obama?

Shame about the split with AFL-CIO. Hopefully they will sort that out in the near future.

Good luck anyway with both fights!

Hat-tip to Col. Roi.