Teacher unions have $take in Epi ‘gouger’
Give ’ em an “F’’ for money management.
The city and the state teachers unions have been funneling millions of dollars into a grass-roots protest group that has been targeting “price-gouging” EpiPen manufacturer Mylan — even though their pension funds are heavily invested in the drugmaker, The Post has learned.
Over the past five years, the United Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers and American Federation of Teachers have spent a total of $5.5 million on groups collaborating with a coalition known as Hedge Clippers, records show.
Members of Hedge Clippers, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, on Tuesday were outside billionaire investor John Paulson’s Sixth Avenue office in Midtown, protesting his ties to Mylan.
When reached for comment, a Hedge Clippers spokeswoman said she had no idea that the teachers unions were invested in Mylan, but another rep later defended the protest.
“Paulson has proven time after time that he is happy to take advantage of other people’s pain to make a profit,” the rep said.
The New York State Teachers Retirement System (TRS) pension fund currently holds 728,514 shares of Mylan stock.
In addition, the NYS Common Retirement Fund has purchased 1.1 million Mylan shares currently worth about $42 million.
And the city’s five primary employee pension funds have in- vested a combined $110 million in Mylan, including $42 million in stock and the rest in corporate bonds, according to the city Comptroller’s Office.
Since the teachers unions are deeply invested in the drugmaker, they have basically been hurting themselves by financially supporting the protesters, critics say. Mylan’s shares are down 12.6 percent since Aug. 18 and more than 20 percent for the year.
Michael Kink, the executive director of Strong Economy for All — which launched Hedge Clippers — is even a UFT employee, according to federal tax and labor records.
A UFT rep said, “Investment decisions by TRS are made over the long term in conjunction with the city Comptroller’s Office.”
Comptroller Scott Stringer, whose office manages the five city pension funds, criticized the price hikes but stopped short of saying that he’d have the funds divest their Mylan holdings.