An Open Letter to NYS/NYC Pension Funds
Dear Comptroller DiNapoli, President Keefe and Comptroller Stringer,
We are deeply concerned over the large stock and bond holdings the NYS Common Retirement Fund, NYS Teachers' Retirement System and NYC Employees Retirement Systems have in Charter Communications/Spectrum, its parent company Liberty Media Corporation and Liberty Media subsidiaries.
Why, we ask, are hundreds of millions of dollars of New York State and New York City retirees' funds still being invested in companies owned and run by John Malone, Greg Maffei and Thomas Rutledge whose policies and actions are seriously undermining the well being of millions of New Yorkers.
By definition, shareholders are the owners of a company. With ownership comes responsibility. As you know, if your child throws a ball through someone's window or your dog bites someone, you as the parent or dog owner are responsible for any damages and to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Political leaders and trustees of public pension funds have a duty not to invest in companies like Charter Spectrum and its parent Liberty Media whose executives and board members operate in ways that are detrimental to the public interest, discriminate against large sectors of the population and cheat consumers.
The brochure, "Charter Spectrum Greedy Threesome" and www.InternetJustice.net spotlight the reprehensible behavior and record of Charter Spectrum which includes:
1. Thousands of complaints over misleading advertising, price-gouging and providing shoddy service. The Better Business Bureau gives Charter Spectrum an F rating.
2. Messrs. Malone, Maffei and Rutledge exhibiting unconscionable greed by demanding that 1800 members of IBEW Local 3 agree to drastic cuts in their health coverage and the elimination of retirement benefits and job security gained through decades of good faith negotiations. Their draconian labor policies precipitated a strike on March 28, 2017 which continues to this day and is setting a terrible precedent for labor relations in NYC.
3. Failing to provide internet services in many rural areas and low income communities in NYC and other large cities and counties thus placing residents in a dangerous predicament particularly in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. Without easy internet access, the health, well-being, safety, education and work opportunities for millions of children and adults, are increasingly in peril; and
4. Refusing to negotiate in good faith to renew expired cable TV franchise agreements while also trying to renege on past commitments, including support for 70 PEG stations which provide public, educational and government community programming, and "I-Net's" which are institutional networks connecting critical police and fire services throughout New York."
Dozens of our political leaders including Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio and you Comptroller DiNapoli and Comptroller Stringer and members of the boards of trustees of city and state public pension funds have spoken at Local 3 rallies, marched in demonstrations and joined Local 3 picket lines along with thousands of public employees over the past three years. You have have also been interviewed in programs on PEG stations throughout NYC and NYS.
Now hundreds of strikers, organized labor and millions of New Yorkers seeking quality internet for all and expanded noncommercial community programming need your help to bring more meaningful pressure on Charter Spectrum and the Greedy Threesome to clean up their act or face serious consequences including divestment and nonrenewal of franchises.
The latest public pension fund investment reports show the following stock and bond holdings in Charter Communications and its parent company Liberty Media and Liberty subsidiaries:
1. New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) investments include Charter Communications stock valued at $150 million and bonds valued at about $180 million for a total investment of $330 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include about $332 million in stocks and $85 million in bonds for a total of $417 million. So the NYSCRF has about $747 million invested in the Greedy Threesome's companies.
2. New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) investments include Charter Communications stock valued at more than $117 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include more than $67 million in stocks and more than $12 million in bonds totaling about $80 million. So the NYSTRS has about $197 million invested in the Greedy Threesome's companies.
3. New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), NYC Police Pension Fund (NYCPPF) and NYC Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) together have investments including Charter Communications stock valued at more than $14 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include about $55 million in stocks and $44 million in bonds. So NYC's retirement funds have about $113 million in the Greedy Threesome companies.
In the pursuit of justice, we are asking all of you in charge of overseeing and investing NYS and NYC retirement funds to exert your influence and inform the Greedy Threesome that NYS/NYC public pension funds will no longer be invested in their companies' stocks or bonds, stock proxies will be voted against management and eventually divested, and maturing bonds will be cashed in.
Please let us know whether and how you will help hold Liberty Media/Charter Communications accountable.
Sincerely,
Ray Rogers
Director
Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Campaign to Advance Internet/Broadband Justice
Strikers & Campaign Coordinators:
Troy Wolcott
Laura Sprow
Billy Silverglad
Jamal Scott
Daniel Rivera
Ray Reyes
David Pabon
Mario Munoz
Dwayne Morris
Kevin Mayers
Mike Louis
Ron Ince
Dave Fontanez
Manny Felix
Brian DeLoach
Mike Auerbach
Ian Aiken
Source: The Campaign to Advance Internet/Broadband Justice
We are deeply concerned over the large stock and bond holdings the NYS Common Retirement Fund, NYS Teachers' Retirement System and NYC Employees Retirement Systems have in Charter Communications/Spectrum, its parent company Liberty Media Corporation and Liberty Media subsidiaries.
Why, we ask, are hundreds of millions of dollars of New York State and New York City retirees' funds still being invested in companies owned and run by John Malone, Greg Maffei and Thomas Rutledge whose policies and actions are seriously undermining the well being of millions of New Yorkers.
By definition, shareholders are the owners of a company. With ownership comes responsibility. As you know, if your child throws a ball through someone's window or your dog bites someone, you as the parent or dog owner are responsible for any damages and to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Political leaders and trustees of public pension funds have a duty not to invest in companies like Charter Spectrum and its parent Liberty Media whose executives and board members operate in ways that are detrimental to the public interest, discriminate against large sectors of the population and cheat consumers.
The brochure, "Charter Spectrum Greedy Threesome" and www.InternetJustice.net spotlight the reprehensible behavior and record of Charter Spectrum which includes:
1. Thousands of complaints over misleading advertising, price-gouging and providing shoddy service. The Better Business Bureau gives Charter Spectrum an F rating.
2. Messrs. Malone, Maffei and Rutledge exhibiting unconscionable greed by demanding that 1800 members of IBEW Local 3 agree to drastic cuts in their health coverage and the elimination of retirement benefits and job security gained through decades of good faith negotiations. Their draconian labor policies precipitated a strike on March 28, 2017 which continues to this day and is setting a terrible precedent for labor relations in NYC.
3. Failing to provide internet services in many rural areas and low income communities in NYC and other large cities and counties thus placing residents in a dangerous predicament particularly in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. Without easy internet access, the health, well-being, safety, education and work opportunities for millions of children and adults, are increasingly in peril; and
4. Refusing to negotiate in good faith to renew expired cable TV franchise agreements while also trying to renege on past commitments, including support for 70 PEG stations which provide public, educational and government community programming, and "I-Net's" which are institutional networks connecting critical police and fire services throughout New York."
Dozens of our political leaders including Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio and you Comptroller DiNapoli and Comptroller Stringer and members of the boards of trustees of city and state public pension funds have spoken at Local 3 rallies, marched in demonstrations and joined Local 3 picket lines along with thousands of public employees over the past three years. You have have also been interviewed in programs on PEG stations throughout NYC and NYS.
Now hundreds of strikers, organized labor and millions of New Yorkers seeking quality internet for all and expanded noncommercial community programming need your help to bring more meaningful pressure on Charter Spectrum and the Greedy Threesome to clean up their act or face serious consequences including divestment and nonrenewal of franchises.
The latest public pension fund investment reports show the following stock and bond holdings in Charter Communications and its parent company Liberty Media and Liberty subsidiaries:
1. New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) investments include Charter Communications stock valued at $150 million and bonds valued at about $180 million for a total investment of $330 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include about $332 million in stocks and $85 million in bonds for a total of $417 million. So the NYSCRF has about $747 million invested in the Greedy Threesome's companies.
2. New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) investments include Charter Communications stock valued at more than $117 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include more than $67 million in stocks and more than $12 million in bonds totaling about $80 million. So the NYSTRS has about $197 million invested in the Greedy Threesome's companies.
3. New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), NYC Police Pension Fund (NYCPPF) and NYC Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) together have investments including Charter Communications stock valued at more than $14 million. Investments in Liberty Media and its related companies include about $55 million in stocks and $44 million in bonds. So NYC's retirement funds have about $113 million in the Greedy Threesome companies.
In the pursuit of justice, we are asking all of you in charge of overseeing and investing NYS and NYC retirement funds to exert your influence and inform the Greedy Threesome that NYS/NYC public pension funds will no longer be invested in their companies' stocks or bonds, stock proxies will be voted against management and eventually divested, and maturing bonds will be cashed in.
Please let us know whether and how you will help hold Liberty Media/Charter Communications accountable.
Sincerely,
Ray Rogers
Director
Corporate Campaign, Inc.
Campaign to Advance Internet/Broadband Justice
Strikers & Campaign Coordinators:
Troy Wolcott
Laura Sprow
Billy Silverglad
Jamal Scott
Daniel Rivera
Ray Reyes
David Pabon
Mario Munoz
Dwayne Morris
Kevin Mayers
Mike Louis
Ron Ince
Dave Fontanez
Manny Felix
Brian DeLoach
Mike Auerbach
Ian Aiken
Source: The Campaign to Advance Internet/Broadband Justice
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