Key Takeaways
- • The New York State Common Retirement Fund holds over $820 million in Lindsay Goldberg private equity investments, despite the firm's portfolio company Aspire Bakeries spending $254,236 on union-busting legal efforts in California since 2021.
- • New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli instituted a "Responsible Workforce Management Policy and Principles" in 2024 designed to encourage private equity managers to remain neutral in union organizing drives and bargain in good faith, yet significant holdings in firms linked to anti-union activities remain in the portfolio.
- • The NYSCRF also maintains substantial exposure to Ares Capital Partners, a private equity firm with portfolio investments in companies that have spent over $15,000 on union-busting legal services, creating a structural conflict between stated labor policy and actual investment allocation.
- • The union representing Aspire Bakeries workers filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the company engaged in worker surveillance, harassment, and intimidation during a unionization campaign by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers.
- • While most NYSCRF investments in Lindsay Goldberg predate the Aspire Bakeries acquisition, the continued portfolio presence highlights the implementation gap between DiNapoli's two-year-old labor accountability policy and actual fund management practices.
Summary
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, one of the nation's largest public pension vehicles overseen by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, maintains hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity investments linked to companies engaged in union-busting activities, creating a notable disconnect between stated labor policy and portfolio holdings. According to the fund's March 2025 financial report, the NYSCRF holds more than $820 million in assets of Lindsay Goldberg, a private equity firm that acquired Aspire Bakeries in 2021. Since the acquisition, Aspire Bakeries has spent $254,236 on union-busting legal counsel to counter a unionization campaign led by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union in California, according to monitoring by a nonprofit watchdog tracking private equity fund activities.
The union filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Aspire Bakeries engaged in illegal labor practices, including worker surveillance, harassment, and intimidation aimed at suppressing the organizing effort. This scenario directly conflicts with the "Responsible Workforce Management Policy and Principles" that DiNapoli's office instituted in 2024, which explicitly pushes private equity fund managers to maintain neutrality during union organizing campaigns and engage in good-faith bargaining with workers.
While the NYSCRF does not hold direct exposure to Aspire Bakeries itself, and the majority of its Lindsay Goldberg investments predate the bakery acquisition, the fund's continued portfolio presence in the private equity firm underscores the gap between labor accountability rhetoric and execution. The pension fund also maintains substantial holdings in Ares Capital Partners, another private equity firm whose portfolio companies have expended over $15,000 on union-busting legal services. DiNapoli's communications director, Jennifer Freeman, stated that the Comptroller positions himself as a "national leader among institutional investors in standing up for workers," though the evidence suggests material implementation challenges in translating that positioning into divestment or engagement strategies at the portfolio level.
The union filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Aspire Bakeries engaged in illegal labor practices, including worker surveillance, harassment, and intimidation aimed at suppressing the organizing effort. This scenario directly conflicts with the "Responsible Workforce Management Policy and Principles" that DiNapoli's office instituted in 2024, which explicitly pushes private equity fund managers to maintain neutrality during union organizing campaigns and engage in good-faith bargaining with workers.
While the NYSCRF does not hold direct exposure to Aspire Bakeries itself, and the majority of its Lindsay Goldberg investments predate the bakery acquisition, the fund's continued portfolio presence in the private equity firm underscores the gap between labor accountability rhetoric and execution. The pension fund also maintains substantial holdings in Ares Capital Partners, another private equity firm whose portfolio companies have expended over $15,000 on union-busting legal services. DiNapoli's communications director, Jennifer Freeman, stated that the Comptroller positions himself as a "national leader among institutional investors in standing up for workers," though the evidence suggests material implementation challenges in translating that positioning into divestment or engagement strategies at the portfolio level.
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