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Contact: David Miller at (202) 942-2285, (202) 413-1775 or davidmiller@liuna.org

LIUNA Applauds Senate Passage of Financial Reform

Legislation is a good first step in cleaning up Wall Street’s mess

July 15, 2010 (Washington, D.C.) – Today LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – applauded the Senate for passing major financial reform legislation, which is now on its way to President Obama’s desk.

“The vote today in the Senate is a victory for all of our members, who saw their pension funds decimated by reckless and irresponsible behavior on Wall Street that had gone unchecked for years by Washington,” said LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan. “These new rules will allow us to have more influence over the companies we invest in on behalf of our membership, and will make the leadership of those companies more accountable.”

LIUNA fought for several provisions that made it into the final version of the legislation, including bolstering the SEC’s authority to adopt rules allowing shareholders to nominate directors via proxy, requiring advisory shareholder votes on executive pay, requiring public companies to recover compensation executives receive due to noncompliance with reporting requirements, and directing the SEC to mandate disclosure of whether a company has separate chair and CEO positions and why.

Other provisions in the bill supported by LIUNA include increased reporting and transparency requirements imposed on credit rating agencies and rules that shed more light on the trading of risky derivatives and limit the impact of such trading on overall bank assets.

While pleased with the bill’s passage, O’Sullivan said there is more work to be done cleaning up Wall Street’s mess. “We hope Congress now turns its attention to directly helping the people who suffered most when the markets crashed nearly two years ago – the workers who saw their pensions and other retirement savings wiped out,” he said. “Washington needs to enact major pension reform now so that the people who built this country are rewarded for their years of hard work and sacrifice.”

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The half-million members of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.