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 Aviva Investors and BMO Global Asset Management are among the more
than 90 investors which have teamed up with UNI Global Union, which
represents 20 million workers worldwide. Its subsidiary UNICARE
represents two million careworkers.
The coalition will send a statement later on Thursday to private
care home companies and real estate owners, setting out their
expectations on issues such as health and safety standards, staffing
levels and pay.
In the statement seen by Reuters, the investor group will say that
the pandemic highlighted the "direct link between poor working
conditions and quality of resident care".
Although availability of data varies, it is generally accepted that
the COVID-19 death toll among nursing home residents around the
world has been high.
In April 2020, the World Health Organization said up to half of the
COVID-19 deaths in Europe were of residents in long-term care
facilities.
The move is the latest in a series of investor initiatives that aim
to use their financial clout to influence corporate decision-making
in favour of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Many of Britain's biggest investors refused to participate in
Wednesday's IPO of food takeaway firm Deliveroo, citing poor
treatment of delivery workers.
The funds' statement noted care workers were mostly women and often
minorities, earning low wages on part time hours or precarious
working arrangements.
More than half of care workers say they do not earn enough to cover
basic needs such as housing and food, and 31% do not have adequate
access to personal protective equipment, research by UNI shows.
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"We must seize this moment to ensure the industry changes for the
better and develops a more humane and resilient model," the
statement said.
Raising wages to a living level and minimising the use of precarious
contracts are among the measures to be proposed.
Care home operators should also respect workers' rights to organise
a union and bargain collectively, the investors will say.
The statement will be sent to companies including Orpea, the Ensign
Group, Chartwell and Sienna Senior Living.
The investor signatories aim to set time-bound targets and, if
companies fail to show progress, this could affect the investors'
decision-making and support for board members, a spokesman for UNI
said.
"Covid has shone the spotlight on the social risks facing
investors," said Doug McMurdo, chair of the UK's Local Authority
Pension Fund Forum, which manages 300 billion pounds ($413.2
billion) of pensions.
"While many of the risks to staff, clients and investors in the
sector are not new, the impact of the pandemic does demand they are
now urgently addressed," he said.
($1 = 0.7259 pounds)
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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