IS YOUR INVESTMENT REALLY GOING TOWARD THE "GREATER GOOD"?

Ethical MarketsGlobal Citizen

THIS NEWS FROM OUR RESEARCH ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER, Prof. Michael K.
Dorsey , Dartmouth College.”

Dear Professor/Staff Member,

It’s morning in America—do you know where your pension fund assets were last night?

Would it upset you to know that TIAA-CREF—the nation’s largest retirement fund—is a major investor in companies like Wal-Mart, Nike, Costco, Coca-Cola, Chevron, Philip Morris/Altria, and Rite Aid?

Millions of TIAA-CREF participants are contributing their money to support abusive human and labor rights practices, destruction of the environment, and harming of human health.

The fact is, some of our country’s worst corporate violators are right at home in the portfolio of TIAA-CREF-which says it provides financial services “for the greater good.”

In 2007, the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) passed a resolution critical of CREF’s continued investment in several of these corporations. (See attached resolution.) Soon after, the 1.3 million member strong American Federation of Teachers passed a similar resolution. As educators and those working along-side them,, we have spent our careers trying to help students learn the truth about the world around them. The truth is that TIAA-CREF continues to invest our funds in these corporate bad actors.

We don’t want our investment-

* Exploiting Third World workers at Nike vendor sweatshops

* Aggressively union-busting American workers at Wal-Mart and Rite Aid
* Destroying historic Mexican culture to build Costcos– and abusing the human rights of those who protest.
* Polluting drinking waters in India; allowing the intimidation or even killing of union workers under the not-so- watchful eye of Coca-Cola bosses in Colombia
* Financing the dictatorship in Burma (Myanmar) that savagely abuses human rights
* Supporting the killing practices of Philip Morris/Altria, including its marketing to youth

It’s time for faculty, staff, and students on campuses across America to tell TIAA-CREF it must use its considerable shareholder power to influence these corporations for the better–or stop investing in them.

What can you do? Let’s turn up the heat on CREF to truly invest for the “greater good.” Help us educate the faculty, staff, and students on your campus and nationwide. Email this message to others at your school and elsewhere. All of us need to:

* As a faculty or staff body, send a letter to TIAA-CREF and/or pass a resolution similar to NYSUT’s and send them to: Herbert Allison, CEO, TIAA-CREF, 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
* Tell local or national media about the concerns raised in your letter or resolution
* Individuals should call TIAA-CREF at 800-842-2733 (212-490-9000)
and ask for CEO Herb Allison. Leave the message: “I want TIAA-CREF to
put Wal-Mart, Nike, Coca Cola, Costco, Chevron, Philip Morris/Altria, and Rite Aid on notice that if they don’t clean up their human rights, environmental, and health practices, that CREF will find other companies to invest in.” Tell them if you are in the TIAA-CREF system; and if you are able to do so at your institution and feel strongly enough, say
that you (or your whole school) will withdraw money from TIAA-CREF if they don’t decide to engage or withdraw from some of these companies.
* Individuals should also email Mr. Allison and TIAA-CREF Trustees
with the same message: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected];%[email protected] ;
[email protected]