State pension holds hundreds of millions in private equity funds linked to union-busting companies 

Despite a policy instituted two years ago that seeks to hold private equity firms accountable for the union busting and anti-worker practices carried out by firms they invest in, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, stewarded by New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, holds hundreds of millions of dollars in investments tied to companies accused of cracking down on workers’ attempts to unionize.  

The NYSCRF, according to its March 2025 financial report, holds more than $820 million in assets of Lindsay Goldberg, a private equity firm that, in 2021, purchased Aspire Bakeries, a conglomerate of bakery brands. Aspire Bakeries has since spent $254,236 on union busting lawyers to ward off a unionization campaign with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers in California, according to a nonprofit watchdog that tracks private equity funds.

The union filed federal charges with the NLRB at the time, accusing Aspire of spying on, harassing and intimidating workers.  

The NYSCRF does not have direct exposure to Aspire Bakeries, and the vast majority of the fund’s investments in Lindsay Goldberg were made before it purchased Aspire Bakeries. But under a 2024 guideline titled Responsible Workforce Management Policy and Principles instituted by DiNapoli, the pension fund’s managers are pushed to encourage private equity fund managers to remain neutral in union drives and bargain in good faith with workers. 

But the investments in Lindsey Goldberg, as well as Ares Capital Partners, a private equity firm that holds investments in a company that spent over $15,000 on union busting lawyers, remain in the portfolio. 

DiNapoli’s communications director, Jennifer Freeman, said in an emailed statement that the Comptroller is a “national leader among institutional investors in standing up for workers.” 

“The New York State Common Retirement Fund was among the first public pension funds in the country to adopt a Responsible Workforce Management Policy for its private equity investments," she said. "While the Fund does not have exposure to Aspire Bakeries through Lindsay Goldberg or to Capstone Logistics through any Ares investment, we do not support union busting policies and support workers having the right to organize." 

Since instituting the policy in 2024, DiNapoli has written letters to the funds Blackstone, Carlyle, and KSL Capital partners expressing concern about the union busting at companies they held stakes in, New York Focus reported last year. The NYCRF still maintains investments with all three firms in its portfolio. 

The pro-worker policy, that requires the fund to vet private equity funds and other investments for their worker practices, was instituted partially due to backlash over Blackstone owning a sanitation company that employed immigrant children to work the nighttime cleaning shift at meatpacking plants.

In total, 15 percent of the NYCRF's assets are in private equities.

DiNapoli is seeking to be reelected this year to what would be his fifth full term. One of his challengers in the Democratic primary used the revelation of the investments in Aspire and Ares to ding DiNapoli. 

“This is what you get when you have a comptroller for 20 years who sells out to Wall Street," Drew Warshaw said. "It is time we choose differently and uplift workers, not bankers."

Companies 'hiding behind' private equity giants

At Aspire Bakeries, management’s conduct during the 2023 union campaign was so egregious that the NLRB ordered a re-run election after workers voted against joining the BCTWGM by one vote. But the second election was unsuccessful for the union as well.  

A spokesperson for Lindsay Goldberg did not respond to a request for comment.

BCTWGM leadership placed the blame for the union-busting practices squarely on Lindsay Goldberg, which it said was “responsible for Aspire’s anti-worker actions.” 

“Lindsay Goldberg management refused to talk to us, despite the fact their Aspire Bakeries subsidiary was knowingly violating federal laws and denying their workers the protected right to a free election,” BCTWGM International President Anthony Shelton said in 2023. “Private equity companies like Lindsay Goldberg are used to hiding behind their portfolio companies and acting with impunity. Those days are over.”