[stop-imf] Ask TIAA-CREF - Take the Next Step on WBBonds!

[Robert Weissman]

World Bank Bonds Boycott Campaign ACTION ALERT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
October 1, 2003

** Please forward widely / apologies for cross-postings **

TELL TIAA-CREF: Take the Next Step on World Bank Bonds!

Late last year, TIAA-CREF, America's largest pension fund, sold off all its
holdings of World Bank bonds. TIAA-CREF cited financial considerations as
the main reason for its decision. Whatever reason TIAA-CREF sold its bonds,
this is an important development and victory for those of us working to
challenge unjust globalization and to pressure the World Bank for change.

Now, especially if you are a member of the pension fund, TIAA-CREF needs to
hear from you again.  We are asking you to sign-on to the below letter to
TIAA-CREF thanking them for their decision to sell off their World Bank
bonds, and to ask TIAA-CREF to take the next step. The next step is to
adopt a policy against future investment in World Bank bonds, both in its
main fund and its Social Choice Account. This campaign is important because
TIAA-CREF is the largest pension fund in the country and what they do is
noticed by other large institutional investors as well.

We want to deliver the below letter, with hundreds of signatories from
TIAA-CREF members across the country, to TIAA-CREF's upcoming Annual
Meeting, which will take place on November 13, 2003 in New York City.
Please act today, and please forward this message widely to listserves and
other people you may know that are members. You can sign onto the letter by
sending your name, title, affiliation (your organization or educational
institution) to tcletter@econjustice.net.

This message is distributed by the World Bank Bonds Boycott campaign. The
World Bank Bonds Boycott is an international grassroots campaign that is
building moral, political, and financial pressure on the World Bank for
change. The World Bank raises most of its funds by issuing bonds. Ordinary
people, through their pension funds, labor unions, churches,
municipalities, and universities are exerting pressure for change on the
World Bank by refusing to buy its bonds. The campaign demands an end to the
World Bank's harmful "structural adjustment" policies; 100% debt
cancellation; and an end to environmentally destructive projects,
especially for oil, gas, mining, and dams.

For more information, background materials, fact sheets, and to sign on to
the letter electronically visit the World Bank Bonds Boycott website at
www.worldbankboycott.org. Also, visit The World Bank Bonds Boycott
TIAA-CREF campaign webpage, which has copies of this action alert and a
flyer suitable for posting in your organization or in faculty lounges is --
see http://econjustice.net/wbbb/news/tiaacref_index.htm


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Letter to TIAA-CREF: Take the Next Step on World Bank Bonds

** To sign on to this letter, send an e-mail with your name, title, and
affiliation (university or organization) to tcletter@econjustice.net. **

Herbert M. Allison, Jr., Chairman, President, and CEO
Martin Leibowitz, Chief Investment Officer
TIAA-CREF
730 3rd Ave.,
New York, NY 10017

Dear Mr. Allison and Mr. Leibowitz:

As members of TIAA-CREF, we want to thank you for TIAA-CREF's recent
decision to sell its holdings of World Bank bonds.  We applaud you for your
decision both because it is a financially sound decision to make, and
because it is a socially responsible move.

We write today to urge you to take the next step. We request that TIAA-CREF
adopt a policy against investing in bonds issued by the World Bank (the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or IBRD), and
instead invest in bonds that promote social good. We would urge you to
adopt such a policy for all TIAA-CREF funds, including the Social Choice
Account.

There are compelling financial and social reasons for adopting a policy
against World Bank bond investment. First, from a financial perspective,
there are a number of risk factors associated with World Bank bond
investment. A growing number of World Bank borrowers --including, in
November 2002, Argentina  are defaulting on payments to the institution, or
may be forced to do so in the future. Moreover, many World Bank loans are
poorly monitored and are not sustainable, which may increase risks of
non-payment. Finally, a growing campaign which urges investors not to
purchase the bonds, the World Bank Bonds Boycott campaign, is increasing
risks associated with holding the bonds and seeks to lower the Bank's "AAA"
rating.

          Second, World Bank bonds are not socially responsible investments.
The World Bank lacks democracy and transparency in its operations: voting
power in the institution is heavily skewed in favor of rich countries, and
its Board meetings held in secret. The World Bank's lending in recent years
has been increasingly oriented towards so-called "adjustment" loans which
allow the Bank to avoid environmental and social safeguard policies in
place for its project lending. As members of TIAA-CREF, education is a
strong priority for us. Many of the World Bank's loans for education have
come with requirements that user fees be charged on students and that
teacher salaries be cut. Finally, the World Bank's refusal to cancel
illegitimate and unpayable debts owed to it by impoverished countries means
that dozens of countries around the world must make unconscionable payments
to the World Bank while their education and health systems collapse.

          We support a statement of policy from TIAA-CREF against investment
in World Bank bonds. Such a statement would reduce the risks to TIAA-CREF
participants that are associated with holding World Bank bonds, and it
would send a strong message for change to the World Bank.

Thank you for considering our request, and we look forward to receiving
your response.

Sincerely,

[Initial signers include:]

Patrick Bond, Professor, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and
Visiting Professor,
York University (Toronto)

Salih Booker, Executive Director, Africa Action, Washington, DC

Dennis Brutus, Professor Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh

Tim Canova, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research,
Washington, DC

Emira Woods, Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus, Institue for Policy
Studies, Washington, DC

Iris Marion Young, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

** To sign on to this letter, send an e-mail with your name, title, and
affiliation (university or organization) to tcletter@econjustice.net. **




+++++++++++++++++++
World Bank Bonds Boycott Campaign
Center for Economic Justice
733 15th Street, NW, Suite 928
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 393-6665
Fax: (202) 393-1358
Email: bankboycott@econjustice.net
Web: www.worldbankboycott.org



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+++++++++++++++++++
Neil Watkins
World Bank Bonds Boycott
Center for Economic Justice
733 15th Street, NW, Suite 928
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 393-6665
Fax: (202) 393-1358
Web: www.worldbankboycott.org