Pro-Labor Mutual Funds Not Sacrificing Profit

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.thestreet.com/s/pro-labor-mutual-funds-not-sacrificing-profit/funds/mutualfundinvesting/10381202.html?puc=_googlen?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

By Richard Widows
TheStreet.com Ratings Financial Analyst
9/25/2007 2:16 PM EDT

General Motors (GM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) might have you think labor unions are destroying corporate America. But some mutual funds focusing on companies that have good relationships with organized labor are doing quite well, thank you.


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GM workers at plants across the U.S. walked off the job Monday after negotiations with the United Auto Workers union failed to produce a new deal. It was the first time a contract breakdown has led to a nationwide strike at the world's largest automaker since 1970.

Despite the fact that production lines were crippled, GM shares actually rose as investors took heart that it wasn't backing down in its effort to cut costs.

TheStreet.com Ratings tracks three open-end mutual funds with investment philosophies in alignment with unions. None of the tech, financial and energy heavyweights in these portfolios seem to be in immediate danger of extinction. And investors have hardly penalized the companies for their union-friendly stances.

As you can see in the accompanying table, their stock selections seem to stress the first five letters of the age-old union mantra of "solidarity."

The MFS Union Standard Equity Fund (MUEAX) states in its prospectus that it "generally seeks to invest at least 65% of the net assets in union-sensitive companies and the remaining investments in labor-sensitive companies." As you can see in the table below, it has outperformed the total-return of the S&P 500 index by comfortable margins in recent years.

FULL story at link.