Last year, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) divested from two U.S. private prison companies Core Civic and GEO Group. Both companies hold federal immigration contracts, which enforce the policies of the Trump administration. After engaging with the companies, CalSTRS asserted that investing in the Core Civic and GEO Group would pose a risk to investors.
This year, we are urging CalSTRS to divest from General Dynamics. Sign the petition demanding CalSTRS immediately divest from weapons manufacturer General Dynamics.
Not only does General Dynamics contract with federal immigration authorities, but it is one of the top defense companies in the world. CalSTRS has invested millions in a company which has been implicated in war crimes and the loss of countless innocent lives. In one of the most egregious cases, 54 were killed, 44 of whom were children, and countless more wounded in an airstrike on a Yemeni school bus with remnants of a General Dynamics guided metal fin found at the scene.
General Dynamics has a long-lasting contract with Saudi Arabia estimated at $1.3 billion dollars-providing weapons to a country which is waging a war on Yemen that has already killed an estimated six thousand innocent civilians. The company’s arms sales to despotic regimes like Saudi Arabia only contribute to the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in the region, which creates strong resentment towards our country and contributes to the rise of violent extremism. Join CalSTRS members in urging the California State Teachers’ Retirement System to end its complicity in the war on Yemen.
Investing in peace,
CalSTRS members Susan Harman and Susan Witka, and CODEPINK
