iNA 1
OMirtUuuCi i
Divestment Issue
Gathers Steam
[AN] In recent weeks
the Catholic Archdiocese
of Milwaukee has sold
$300,000 of Citicorp
bonds in protest of loans
to South Africa, the
latest in a series of
church and university ac
tions against the New
York-based banking
giant. And in Connec
ticut a bill to divest state
monies from all com
panies involved in South
Africa was barely block
ed when the government
vetoed it on July 1.
These developments
are only two of many
signs of a shift toward
tougher grassroots ac
tion on South African in
vestment, at a time when
the political climate
prevailing in Washington
augurs closer ties with
Pretoria. Churches,
universities, and state
and local governments
concerned with the issue
are growing in number,
adding to the pressure on
companies, though
details of their demands
vary.
Significantly, activists
are showing increasing
skepticism toward
reform measures that fall
short of full withdrawal.
Citicorp, for example,
had hoped that the loan
by its subsidiary.
Citibank, to the South
African government for
an upgrading of black
housing might win some
exemption from
criticism, but protest has
continued.
In Connecticut, the
recently-vetoed divest
ment bill was an attempt
to go further than an ex
isting state law, one that
.used the ‘Sullivan Prin
ciples’ as a measure of
corporate ethics. (This
code, drafted by the Rev.
Leon Sullivan, a black
American clergyman
who sits on the board of
General Motors,
prescribes a number of
corporate reforms for
U.S. companies in South
Africa.) The new bill had
passed by 101 to 35 prior
to the governor’s veto,
and even afterwards,
with bipartisan support,
won 81 votes over 61 op
posed — short of the
two-thirds necessary to,
override a veto.
Many critics are still
using the Sullivan Prin
ciples as the major
criterion for judging
companies and deciding
on divestment, but an in
creasing proportion are
calling for outright
economic withdrawal.
A similar trend is
developing in labor
unions. In June UAW
vice president Marc
Stepp told a UN sym
posium on Transnational
Corporations in South
Africa and Namibia that
his union was calling for
implementation of a rele
vant clause in their con
tract with Chrysler —
one that excludes from
new pension fund invest
ment up to five com
panies which refuse to
abide by the Sullivan
Principles. The corpora
tions named this year are
Allegheny International,
Dresser Industries,
Eaton Corporation,
Newmont Mining and
U.S. Steel.
However, Stepp went
on to say that ne hoped
these cutoffs would be
just the start. It was
necessary to push
beyond the Sullivan
code, he argued, and
eventually “move from
an investment freeze to
outright divestment,
from a limited embargo
on arms and trade to a
total embargo.”
Another Zimbabwe Leader Buried
Joe Gqabi, Chief Representative of the African National Congress in Zimbabwe, was buried Sunday
August 9, after his assassination the week before. The funera! was attended by Prime Minister Mugabe, government
government officials, members of the Diplomatic Corps,, and Oliver Tambo. ANC president, who is shown
addressing the mourners while Gqabi’s family members listen.
Thomas, who chaired
the recent Study
mis'iop on ’ ■ ' ■
o.:i du-
dressed the conference
charging that U.S. com
panies in South Africa,
even many of those who
had signed his code, were
dragging their feet on.
reform. -
• Over the period from
February to May, the an
nual campaign carried
out by church groups at
stockholder meetings
targeted 26 corporations
for their involvement in
South Africa. The-
groups presented a varie
ty of resolutions ranging
from requests for reports
on conditions in the
firms’ South African
operations to calls for
boycotts on sales to the
South African military
qnd cessation of loans to
the South African
and
Continental
measurable ins’iit,,,
investors’ h;.
with loans t?"!
Africa. ^
ind„
companies, Pg ?
General Motors t
conciliatory
ing to further disa’
with the churche
the resolutions ’
withdrawn. ,,
however, strongiv
firmed its policy o,
to South 'I
military and „
arguing that these
c'cs were for thepf„
people of
tion of
races.
Subscribe To
The Carolina V,
Call682.29lrr.';:
Most successful
University/Church
Divestments Actions 1981
• In January, the trustees
of Mount Holyoke Col
lege in Massachusetts
voted to sell all stock in
three companies involv
ed in South Africa —
First National Bank of
Boston, General Motor's
and Mobil Oil. The stock
sold was valued at over
$2 million.
• In February, it was
revealed that Flarvard
University had sold some
$50 million in Citibank
notes and certificates,
because of that bank’s
recent loans to South
Africa.
• At a joint press con
ference in March, Dr.
Leon Sullivan,
originator of the
‘Sullivan Principles,’
and Dr. William
Howard, president of the
National Council, of
Churches, announced
their continued opposi
tion to bank loans to
South Africa, specifical
ly citing the recent $250
million loan in which
Citibank participated.
• In April, Brandeis
University sold nearly
$300,000 worth of stock
in U.S. Steel because of
that company’s con
tinued operations in
South Africa, and its
refusal to subscribe to a
code of ethics on labor
practices there.
* In early May, Swar-
thmore College decided
to divest some $2.4
million in stock in New
mont Mining, Timken
Corporation and
Citibank. Later the same
month, • Riverside
Church withdrew an
operating account with
some $6 million in cash
flow per year from
Citibank in protest
against its South African
loans.
• On May 27 and 28, a
conference on South
Africa at Northwestern
University, organized on
the recommendation of a
trustee committee ex
amining Northwestern’s
financial ties with South
Africa, was boycotted by
anti-apartheid groups,
who charged that view
points favoring divest
ment were excluded from
the program. The con
ference featured a major
address by Franklin
UP! Photo resolutions submitted to
banks. Resolutions at
Crocker National won
10.3% of the shares
voted, and at Wells
Fargo 10.8%, while high
percentages were also
registered at several
others; Citibank (7%),
Bank of America 16%),
Legislators Take Up
Divestment Issue
[AN]
held in
June to
Investment and
Africa drew
A conference
New York in
discuss Public
South
42
private
together
legislators from 22
states, as well as 150
others concerned with
divestment issues. The
gathering marked a new
level of linkage between
those concerned in
general with the respon
sible investment of
public employee pension
funds, and those-groups
specifically concerned to
end United States ties
with the South African
apartheid system.
The meeting, the first
of its kind on a national
level, opened with a
press conference at the
United Nations chaired
by Nigeria’s Am
bassador B. Akporode
Clark. Clark, who also
chairs the UN Special
Committee against
Apartheid, stressed the
importance of foreign in
vestments in the South
African economy, which
he said strengthened the
military and industrial
base of the white minori
ty government.
Keynote speaker
Julian Bond, state
senator from Georgia,
later exhorted the group
to “take whatever action
we can to end American
complicity with this in
ternational crime.”
Reagan administration
policies, the veteran civil
rights activist added,
have shifted from
“benign neglect to a kind
of malignant
aggression” on issues of
human rights in Africa.
Conferees could take
some encouragement
from a summary of ac
tion to date drawn up for
the conference, noting
legislative efforts, often
successful, in some
twelve states and ten
cities including Califor
nia, Connecticut, Il
linois, Indiana,
Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Nebraska, New York,
Ohio, Oregon, Wiscon
sin, and Washington,
D.C. Drawing on this
record, legislators could
argue that divestment ac
tion is politically and
economically feasible,
and that public employee
pension funds, estimated
at some $179 billion in
$979, could wield
substantial financial
leverage.
Public and
pension funds
form a pool of capital in
excess of $650 billion
and control up to 20% of
common stocks in the
U.S., and 40% of the
bond market. They are
however, generally under
the control of banks and
other financial agents,
and managed without
respect to criteria of
social responsibility.
William Lucy,
Secretary General of
AFSCME, the large
public employees union,
who is also president of
the Coalition of Black
Trade Unionists, opened
the second day of the
conference with a strong
criticism of what he
termed the “cash register
mentality” of many
management-appointed
pension fund trustees.
But he cautioned the
conferees to work closely
with unions and groups
of retired people when
designing their divest
ment strategy, so that it
not arouse fears of lost
benefits.
In fact, the experience
of many investors who
have disposed of stock in
companies involved in
South Africa is positive.
John Harrington, a
California investment
specialist who has been
active in the field for
over a decade, noted that
more socially responsible
investments in fact often
return higher rates than
the average obtained by
major pension funds. At
the same time, he noted,
investment in local com
munities could also in
crease income, create
jobs, and improve living
standards, rather than
being invested overseas
in a society like South
Africa.
Dr. Robert Schwartz,
vice president of Shear-
son Loeb Rhoades, Inc.,
who has served as invest
ment advisor to union
pension funds and other
large investors, concur
red. Schwartz repeated
the theme of his
testimony to the
Michigan legislature last
year, noting that careful
selection couid replace
those companies involv
ed in South Africa with
more profitable in
vestments.
Organizers for the
conference, a coalition
of groups joined in the
“Campaign against In
vestment in South
Africa,” were pleased
with the results. They ex
pect new action to come
from increased coordina
tion among groups and
legislators in different
states. Regional follow
up meetings are schedul
ed for Michigan in the
fall, and California later
in the winter. This fall’s
AFL-CIO convention is
expected to come out
with a strong statement
on the topic, perhaps
leading to stepped-up
labor involvement. And
in a variety of states, new
legislation is being in
troduced.
One initiative with
good prospects of suc
cess is a divestment bill
introduced in Wisconsin
by Rep. Marcia Coggs.
The University of
Wisconsin regents
divested of stock in com
panies involved in South
Africa two years ago, at
the Attorney General’s
order, and suffered nc
financial ill-effects, set
ting a useful local prece
dent. And Coggs’ bill
which will be considere
in September at a publi
legislative hearing, ha
41 of the 99 assembi
members as co-sponsor;
and nine of the 3
senators.
Sooner or later you’re gmng k) need
Vl^idiovia leller 11
It’s Saturday morning. The car is
packed, the house is locked up, and
the family is filled with the excite
ment of your weekend trip.
Then you remember you forgot
to cash a check.
Sure, you can charge your motel
rooms on your credit card. Your
gas, and some of your meals, also.
But you know you’ll need some
cash. You always do.
That’s when Teller Ilcan save
the day. And your trip.
Because you can withdraw up to
$200 a day from checking or savings
at any of nearly one hundred Teller It
locations all across North Carolina.
All you need is your Wachovia
Banking Card and your Personal
Security Code.
Wachovia Teller II. Sooner or
later, you’re going to need it,
Wachovia
Bank&Trust
.ME.MBEK, F.l>