GEO Divests from the Military Industrial Complex, Prisons, and Apartheid
by Communications Chair on September 26, 2024
GEO members overwhelmingly (90%) approved a new portfolio and a new investment policy statement for the organization, incorporating a groundbreaking divestment framework for investing organizational funds in a vote following a 9/18 General Membership Meeting. We are one of the first unions to fully divest from companies that directly profit from the prison-industrial complex (which broadly refers to for-profit prison, detention, and surveillance technologies) and apartheid states such as Israel.
While our previous investment policy moved towards human rights and environmentally just investments (ESG ETFs), this new policy explicitly imposes universal exclusions of military contractors, prisons, and Israeli apartheid and genocide. We will do this through consultation with the American Friends Service Committee, the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement, and other social impact organizations. We therefore pledge to not only publicize our investments to members but also hold yearly reviews of our investments.
The graduate workers of GEO believe that where you put your money is a representation of your beliefs. The things we value include the environment and the dignity of people. Because we value the dignity of people, we will always be in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The University cannot say they value the dignity of people while they remain invested in the companies fueling the genocide in Palestine.
We are showing that divestment is possible. It is morally necessary, no matter how wealthy the organization is. While the University may be wealthy and have more finances to deal with, it also has a greater capacity to manage those funds based on their values. The University uses the complexity of their finances to say they cannot divest from war and the military, but through our work, we know it is possible. When the the University argues that they are powerless to divest from a genocide, they are lying.
