advertisement advertisement One of the hottest investment strategies right now is what’s known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. Although most of the focus has been on the “e” in ESG (pushing companies on their climate change initiatives) or the “g” (seeking more diversity in the boardroom), the potential for investors to play a role in improving social factors, such as employee rights and working conditions, is growing. Alice Martin, who advises shareholders on labor rights issues at PIRC, Europe’s largest independent corporate governance advisory firm, is a leading thinker on how workers can enlist shareholders to their cause and amplify traditional worker organizing efforts. “Traditional models of strike action are having less impact [in some companies]. They’re much more difficult to enact when membership is low or when workplaces are not particularly well organized,” Martin says. “Shareholder activism becomes another tool that can be used to get a seat around the table and negotiate with an employer about terms and conditions. The times that it works best is when there is also good action on the ground as well.” In that context, workers are making shareholders aware of such issues as low wages, poor working conditions, or safety risks, a point that became particularly acute during the global COVID-19 crisis.