AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s teachers union is urging the state pension system to divest from corporations “complicit” in violating Palestinian human rights amid Israel’s war in Gaza.
Maine Education Association delegates approved the resolution over the weekend amid other business at their annual Representative Assembly in South Portland. The union for teachers and other education professionals in Maine has about 25,000 members and is a major player in campaigns backing Democratic candidates and liberal causes.
Maine Education Association officials did not respond to requests for comment Monday, but a copy of the resolution was provided to the Bangor Daily News and a delegate who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the vote confirmed that a majority of delegates approved the member-driven item and leadership did not conduct a roll call.
The resolution is the latest example of how the ongoing war in Gaza has rippled through politics in Maine and elsewhere since the terrorist group Hamas launched an assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds of hostages. Israel’s air and ground response has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to officials in Hamas-run Gaza.
The resolution urges trustees of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to “develop a cost-effective and financially sound investment portfolio that does not contribute to any corporation, state-owned entity, or financial product identified as being complicit in the violation of the human rights guaranteed to Palestinian civilians under international law.”
The union does not name those corporations. Domna Giatas, a MainePERS spokesperson, said Monday afternoon that the system had “not received any information” from the teachers union on its resolution and could not comment on it.
Help us raise $30,000 to fund journalism that makes a difference to Maine communities. Explore the impact of BDN journalism and make a tax-deductible donation now.
Israel’s ongoing campaign has led to protests and divestment calls throughout the U.S., especially on college campuses, with President Joe Biden supporting an “immediate ceasefire” but not without facing sharp criticism from his left.
On Monday, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced he has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders for war crimes. Biden, a Democrat, criticized that move alongside Republican members of Congress.
The Maine Education Association’s resolution mentions that the United Nations has found more than 80 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war, adding educators’ retirement funds “should not be complicit in human rights abuses.”
The union also noted historical precedent “for leveraging our state pension fund in the interest of justice and human rights.” Maine lawmakers voted in 1987 to divest the state’s retirement system from businesses and state-owned entities complicit in South Africa’s apartheid system.
“Now, almost 40 years later, we should leverage our pension fund once again in the interest of human rights,” the Maine Education Association’s resolution says.
The union has taken a stand on hot-button issues at past conventions, such as when it endorsed a 2012 referendum that allowed same-sex marriage in Maine after voters blocked such a law in 2009.
