Motion to divest pensions from companies profiting from war passed by QUFA

After some delay, Queen’s University Faculty Association have passed a motion recommending the University Pension Plan divest from companies profiting from war.

On Dec. 18, the Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) passed a motion urging the University Pension Plan (UPP) to divest from companies that manufacture weapons or profit from war and human rights violations. The motion, drafted by faculty campaigners under the banner QUFA, Divest My UPP!, passed with a “strong” majority at a virtual general meeting, according to a QUFA member, Samantha King.

The UPP’s a jointly sponsored, multi-university pension plan that manages retirement funds for faculty and staff at six Ontario institutions, including Queen’s. Although QUFA can’t enforce investment decisions, the motion sends a recommendation to the UPP’s Joint Sponsors Committee.

In an interview with The Journal, Samantha King, director and professor in the school of kinesiology and health studies and a member of the divestment campaign, explained the motion’s purpose and next steps following its passage, noting that the UPP ultimately decides where funds are invested and divested.

“The substance of the motion is to divest our pensions from any industries that support war occupations and violations of human rights, wherever they might be occurring,” King said.

The UPP’s next steps include establishing a QUFA-appointed ad hoc committee within the UPP to represent the QUFA motion and advocate on its behalf, and to provide regular updates to the QUFA council on any new developments.

According to King, this move is part of a coordinated provincial strategy. She explained that faculty associations at the University of Toronto and Trent University have already passed similar motions, and that continued pressure and cooperation is needed.

Although the original meeting to vote on the motion was postponed from Dec. 3 to 18, Professor Ariel Salzmann and Librarian for Educational Initiatives Nasser Saleh wrote in a statement to The Journal that QUFA members “understood the urgency of the motion: that it’s a response to ongoing crises that are taking the lives of thousands.”

They cited the estimated deaths of “150,000 Sudanese” and “more than 20,000 Palestinian children,” noting that weapons from Canada, the U.S., and Europe have played a role in these conflicts.

They also contrasted the UPP’s silence on Gaza with its 2022 move to divest from Russia within three weeks of its invasion of Ukraine.

“The UPP took no action when the world’s human rights monitoring organizations reached a consensus concerning the genocidal nature of Israel’s assault on Gaza […]. It is slowed-down genocide in disguise,” Saleh wrote.

Despite the emphasis on the war in Gaza, the divestment team removed 12 clauses ahead of the Dec. 18 meeting, including those targeting divestment from Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar. Other clauses removed addressed the UPP’s design and responsibilities, its swift divestment from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, its responsibility to address climate change, and its screening and communication practices for new investments. King said removing the clauses was a strategic move to pass the motion.

“Opponents of the motion were trying to prevent discussion and a vote by focusing in on very specific details,” she continued, “the most important thing was really to get the resolution passed.”

Additionally, King noted that critics of the motion raised concerns about potential pension instability but emphasized that the UPP divestment should affect individual pensions by only a few dollars and that funds could be redirected to equally strong investments.

King maintained that the motion also sends the Queen’s community a broader message by marking a moral stance.

“It signals that faculty […] don’t want to be complicit in genocide and we don’t want to retire on blood money,” King said.

Tags

Pension Divestment, QUFA, QUFA divest, QUFA UPP

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