Open Letter to the UPP on Divestment from Military Industries and Illegal Occupation

Dear Barbara Zvan, Gale Rubenstein, Joint Sponsors, and Trustees,

We write to formally notify you of the following motions put forward and adopted by members of CUPE 3902 and CUPE 1230 calling on the University Pension Plan (UPP) to divest from military industries in general as well as from companies enabling the State of Israel’s illegal occupation.

The motion debated and passed at the August 9, 2024, General Membership Meeting of CUPE 3902, read:

Motion to call on the University Pension Plan to divest from all companies supplying technologies, weapons, or weapons components to militaries, including the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as from all companies that operate in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or that directly or indirectly support the construction and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The motion debated and passed at the November 20, 2024, General Membership Meeting of CUPE 1230, read:

Be it resolved that CUPE Local 1230 calls for the University Pension Plan (UPP) and any other funds we contribute to, to divest from and implement an exclusion policy on:

A. military industries in general,

B. companies specifically supplying the Israeli military, illegal occupation, and apartheid, and

C. companies which directly enable or facilitate genocide, apartheid, or other war crimes and crimes against humanity, in accordance with international law.

We would like to bring to your attention the legal context behind the call for divestment coming from our locals’ memberships.

On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a Court Order whereby it found it plausible that Israel is enacting a genocide on Palestinians in Gaza. The Court Order ruled that Israel must ensure with immediate effect that its military forces do not commit any acts within the scope of Article II of the Genocide Convention.

On April 5, 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted five resolutions in which they demand that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. The Council calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer, and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel.

On June 20, 2024, United Nation human rights experts issued a press release stating that “The transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws and risk State complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide.” They call on arms manufacturers-- including General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman-- to immediately cease all transfers of weapons, parts, components, and ammunition to Israeli forces.

On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice issued its advisory opinion that Israeli settlements and use of natural resources in the Palestinian territories is a clear violation of international law and should come to an end as rapidly as possible.

On September 20, 2024, a United Nations Special Committee issued a report whereby they conclude that the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide. They recommend that all States should urgently hold business entities fully accountable for complicity in violations of international law, whether through their supply of arms, provision of digital products and services and/or engagement in technology transfer and facilitation (including artificial intelligence) or links to value chains (including algorithmic-based decision-making systems) that enable Israel’s ongoing onslaught in Gaza and apartheid system of injustice in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

We trust that the UPP will be responsive to our members’ demands to prevent our pensions from being complicit in clear breaches of international law, which in the words of UPP, have no place in UPP’s portfolio.

We urge you to transparently communicate the measures taken to meet these demands and uphold UPP’s commitment to ESG investing with respect to the State of Israel’s ongoing genocide, illegal occupation, and apartheid in Palestine.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Eriks Bredovskis
President, CUPE 3902

Alex Jung
President, CUPE 1230