Nation's Largest Union Calls on Pension Boards to Stop Risking Retiree Pension Money, Launch Effort at Wisconsin Pension Board Meeting

Activists Expose Losses and Mismanagement at Lazard-Affiliated Investment Owned by State and International Pension Funds

MADISON,WISC. --Activists picketed outside a State of Wisconsin Board ofInvestment (SWIB), calling on the board to stop risking state workers'pension fund money during the fund's monthly meeting here Wednesday,Sept. 10. The protestors are targeting pension fund involvement in aLazard-affiliated fund which owns Atria Senior Living, one of thelargest senior living chains in the United States. TheLazard-affiliated fund has consistently underperformed and has evenlost millions since its inception in 1998.

Wisconsin'sis just one of several pension funds in the United States, Canada andEurope invested with a Lazard-affiliated real estate fund which ownsAtria Senior Living. Atria Senior Living has been accused of violatingworkers' civil rights and cited by state authorities for seriousresident care problems.

Atria has also become a target ofincreasing scrutiny by state regulators and elected leaders forproblems ranging from short-staffing and poor quality care to consumerprice-gouging. Atria workers have filed numerous federal chargesagainst the company for threatening, intimidating, harassing, andretaliating against workers for trying to form a union.

"Wemoved my mother to Atria so she would be safe and well taken care of,"said Wisconsin resident Susan MacArevey, whose mother was at an AtriaSenior Living facility until 2007. "But they were always short-staffed,and the workers don't have any support from management. I can't believeour state's pension board is allowing this to go on with one of theirinvestments."

Today's protest launched a new internationaleffort by the largest healthcare union in the United States, SEIUHealthcare, and The Campaign to Improve Assisted Living to call onthese pension funds to hold Lazard accountable to investors and workingfamilies. In the past, several of these pension funds have successfullypushed the Lazard-affiliated fund to make changes.

Activistswill also protest during upcoming meetings of the Illinois MunicipalRetirement Fund and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees'Retirement System later this month.

Here is a partial list of pension funds and others invested in Lazard-affiliated Atria Senior Living:

La Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (Quebec, Canada)

PGGM (The Netherlands)

N.Y. State Retirement Fund ("New York Common")

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF)

Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS)

Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (COPERA)

State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB)

Utah Retirement System

Virginia Retirement System

General Motors Asset Management

Government of Singapore Investment Corp.

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