Union use of employee pension funds: Introduction and overview

Summary and Conclusions A case can be made that labor unions are seeking to gain control of the financial leverage of employee pension funds as a means of offsetting a secular decline in membership which has occurred over the past twenty years and which has been accelerating. Pension fund assets are now substantial and are growing very rapidly so that even partial or indirect influence over investment policies could have major impacts on the economy. Unions have already achieved success on a limited scale with the pension fund weapon. Their intention to achieve widespread influence through this vehicle is signalled by the establishment in January, 1981, of a monthly newsletter,Labor & Investments which is devoted exclusively to the union use of employee pension funds. In sum, it is clear that the union use of employee pension funds is a very timely and significant topic. The papers that follow may not provide definitive answers to the many questions produced by this new initiative, but they do enhance our understanding of the issues involved.