Corporate Governance Objectives of Labor Union Shareholders: Evidence from Proxy Voting

Abstract:     
Labor union shareholders have become increasingly vocal in matters of corporate governance, however, their motives have been subject to much debate in the academic literature and business press. I examine the proxy votes of AFL-CIO pension funds in director elections of 504 companies from 2003 to 2006. Using the 2005 AFL-CIO breakup as a source of exogenous variation in the union affiliations of workers across firms, I find that AFL-CIO affiliated shareholders are significantly more supportive of director nominees once the AFL-CIO no longer represents workers or represents significantly fewer workers at a given firm. Other institutional investors do not exhibit the same changes in voting behavior. This difference suggests that labor relations affect the voting patterns of some union shareholders. I also find that AFL-CIO funds are more likely to vote against directors of firms in which there is greater frequency of plant-level conflict between labor unions and management during collective bargaining and union member recruiting. The sensitivity of director votes to union conflict, however, decreases at firms in which the AFL-CIO no longer represents workers or represents significantly fewer workers. The evidence suggests that AFL-CIO affiliated shareholders vote against directors partly to support union worker interests rather than increase shareholder value alone.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Board of Director, Proxy Voting, Labor Union

JEL Classifications: G30, G34, G38, J50, J52, J53

Working Paper Series