Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren urge BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to
Democratic presidential hopefuls Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (R) chat ahead of the tenth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin pressed BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to use his firm’s sizable financial stake in Warrior Met Coal to compel the company’s management to broker a deal with its striking coal miners.
The trio said the miners employed by the Alabama-based coal company are striking to win better pay and benefits from a job that requires them to work in “extremely dangerous” conditions.
“As we hope you understand, the mines in Alabama run 24 hours per day. Workers can face termination for missing more than four days of work,” Sanders, Warren and Baldwin wrote in a letter dated Thursday that was obtained by CNBC. “Given BlackRock’s stake in the company and your position within BlackRock, we are asking you to do the right thing.”
Some of BlackRock’s most popular products are its index funds, investment vehicles that allow clients exposure to a portfolio constructed to match the components of a specific financial market index.
Such products allow investors an easy and cheap way to put money in a fund that will offer performance almost identical to a popular market index, such as the S&P 500. More than a dozen BlackRock index funds owned equity in Warrior Met Coal at the end of 2021.
Separately, each fund owns a fraction of the coal company. But combined across all its many funds, BlackRock controlled about 13% of Warrior Met Coal stock at year’s end, making it the company’s largest stakeholder, according to a FactSet analysis.
“Mr. Fink: Our request to you is simple,” Sanders, Warren and Baldwin added. “BlackRock’s Board must publicly demand that Warrior Met negotiate in good faith and agree to a reasonable contract that treats workers with dignity and respect.”
The timing of the letter appeared intentional and designed for maximum impact given that BlackRock is scheduled to publish its quarterly earnings report later Friday morning. A representative for BlackRock did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
About 1,000 workers represented by the United Mine Workers of America have been on strike at Warrior Met Coal since April 2021. But the strike’s beginnings can be traced to 2016, when Warrior Met bought the mines from bankrupt Walter Energy.
Hundreds of members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) march to the Manhattan headquarters of BlackRock, the largest shareholder in the mining company Warrior Met Coal on November 04, 2021 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
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