Investors Challenge ChevronTexaco on HIV/AIDS

CONTACT: Daniel Rosan, Program Director for Public Health
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
212-870-2317 (office).

San Francisco - December 17, 2003 - Religious investors, including several provinces of the Jesuit religious order, joined the Service Employees International Union today in challenging ChevronTexaco to act on its commitment to the fight against AIDS and report to shareholders on the threat the HIV/AIDS - TB - Malaria pandemics pose to the company, which has a growing presence in the oil fields of Africa.

"HIV and AIDS are taking a devastating human and economic toll in south-east Asia, Africa, and Russia - locations that are key bases of oil exploration for ChevronTexaco. ChevronTexaco has an obligation to its workers and its investors to do all it can to fight the pandemic," said Anna Burger of the Service Employees International Union Master Trust Fund, the pension fund for the nation's fastest growing union. SEIU is working with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a thirty-year-old coalition of faith-based institutional investors, including the Jesuits. SEIU is an Associate Member of ICCR.

"If ChevronTexaco doesn't make sure that its workers are getting the preventative care and treatment they need and deserve, it is ignoring its responsibility to its workers, to its investors, and to the public health," said Ms. Burger

Investor concerns about the impact of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic are borne out by recent economic studies. A recent World Bank report warns, "a complete economic collapse will occur" unless there is a response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa. Even "a delay in responding to the outbreak of the epidemic, however, can lead to collapse." ChevronTexaco operates in 50 African countries and employs 15,000 people in Africa.

New evidence suggests that aggressive treatment and prevention programs in the workplace make business sense, as well. The Harvard Business Review reports "Investments in programs that prevent infection and provide treatment for employees who have HIV/AIDS are profitable … their cost is less than the savings they lead to."

"We're heartened by the recent announcement that ChevronTexaco will be building health infrastructure in parts of Russia and the Niger Delta. HIV/AIDS is a global problem and needs global solutions," said Sister Doris Gormley, who represents several Society of Jesus provinces filing the resolution. ChevronTexaco announced December 3rd that they would work with other extractive industry companies to "create broader community HIV treatment coverage" in Sakhalin, Russia and the Niger River Delta in Nigeria.

But Sister Gormley continued, "Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, President of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, commented, 'This is only the beginning of what companies can do.' I could not agree more. Some companies - Heineken, Old Mutual, Anglo-American - are leaders in the fight against AIDS. We want ChevronTexaco to add its name to that list." All three companies provide their workers with treatment, including anti-retroviral drugs, but they don't stop there. They have aggressive prevention programs, often involving the larger community where they operate, and advocate for stronger government responses to the epidemic.

"Never have the moral and the business case for action been more closely aligned," said Sister Gormley. "This disease destroys lives, communities, and economies. We're calling on all shareholders to support this resolution. On HIV, the only option is action."