The 24th October marks the start of United Nations Disarmament Week.
Whilst there are well established campaigns asking Councils to divest from fossil fuels to help address climate change, the demand for Council pension funds to divest from companies engaged in the production or maintenance of nuclear weapons has been less prominent.
Our latest campaign aims to address that.
During Disarmament Week, Yorkshire CND is asking you to contact your elected members in your Council or your pension provider if you are a member of the West Yorkshire or Greater Manchester Pension Funds protesting about their shameful and sizeable investments in companies making profits from the production of nuclear weapons.
If you are a member of West Yorkshire Pension Fund, you will either be contributing to investments in nuclear weapons or receiving a pension derived in part from income that is sourced from the dividends paid by nuclear weapons manufacturers. Alternately, as a Council Tax Payer in a member West Yorkshire local authority area, some of your Council Tax payments will become employer contributions made available to the pension fund for such investments.
Some of you may alternately be contributors to or pension recipients from the neighbouring Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
As the attached analysis shows West Yorkshire Pension Fund held £99.5m and Greater Manchester Pension Fund £226m in investments with contractors engaged in nuclear weapons work.
The attached booklet contains more information about the investments of the pension funds, the principals and structure governing how they are managed, the persons involved in their management, many of them elected members, and examples of the type of action you might like to take.
Also included is:
– A sample public question that can be adapted and asked of Councillors at a meeting of the full council;
– An example letter that can be adapted and sent to Councillors and other pension fund managers;
– An example of a resolution that your Council could table are also enclosed.
We are happy to assist any member receiving this email in taking action. Thank you for your support, and lets all work to make West Yorkshire nuclear free.
Investment in nuclear weapons manufacture (Yorkshire CND Briefing)
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