We Stand for Justice
In keeping with Jewish values and tradition, in 2005 the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) adopted a resolution that reads in part:
“[We] call upon employers to:
a. Recognize the rights of those who work for them either directly or indirectly, under contractual arrangements for services, to be treated with dignity, to be paid a living wage and to work in a healthy, safe and secure workplace;
b. Allow their employees to choose freely whether to unionize or not, without intimidation or coercion ..."
Real Life
The headlines have become familiar: people working in unsafe and unhealthy conditions that result in illnesses, accidents, and deaths. This November, we learned of a tragedy caused by a situation we thought had become history: 112 people killed by fire in a factory in Bangladesh because of insufficient exits, a horrible echo of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911. The fire at Tazreen Fashions has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where wage costs are low - as little as $37 a month for some workers. Tazreen has supplied clothing to Walmart and Disney.
This is not an exceptional case, nor a rare occurrence: in factories, mines, industrial farms and fields all across the world - and in our own USA - wrokers' rights are being violated routinely. In order to maximize profits, some neglect workers' safety and deny them their basic rights; and many corporations either endorse these practices or partner and do business with those engaging in them. These days the latest names in the news are Disney and Walmart. But the list goes on and on, including thousands of corporations.
Obviously we, Reform rabbis, decry such practices. We would not want to maximize our own profits to the detriment of human rights and lives. Or would we?
Reform Rabbis - WE ARE investors who seek to “maximize profits” without screening for companies that abuse workers' rights. We don’t know if and in how many such corporations we have invested; we do not know in which of those abusive practices we are partnering; we do not know, but we may be the ones doing business this way. We can’t know for sure because the RPB does not select individual companies; the RPB screens out companies only for tobacco and Darfur - but not for labor issues.
Aside from screening for companies engaged in Darfur and reducing our engagement with tobacco, the RPB has no other restrictive screens for Socially Responsible Investing; RPB does not look at the behaviors and practices of the companies we invest in; when RPB gives fund managers SRI instructions on which investments to avoid, workers' rights are not a factor.
And this is only one problem hidden behind the numbers in our Pension Plan (RPB)- there are many others like it.
Violation of workers’ rights, gender discrimination, union-busting, poisoning and polluting the environment - these are violations in which many companies engage, and they very well might be in our RPB portfolios since we do not have any policy or procedure to screen these out, or to stop investing in them.
Reform Jews and Rabbis have taken clear and strong ethical positions on all these issues. But since these are not used as filters and criteria when the RPB chooses where to invest our pension funds, the reality is that our money does not follow the values and positions taken by our Movement and Rabbis with regard to labor and the environment.
I Kings 21:19 "This is what God says: Have you killed, and also profited?!"
In keeping with Jewish values and tradition, in 2005 the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) adopted a resolution that reads in part:
“[We] call upon employers to:
a. Recognize the rights of those who work for them either directly or indirectly, under contractual arrangements for services, to be treated with dignity, to be paid a living wage and to work in a healthy, safe and secure workplace;
b. Allow their employees to choose freely whether to unionize or not, without intimidation or coercion ..."
Real Life
The headlines have become familiar: people working in unsafe and unhealthy conditions that result in illnesses, accidents, and deaths. This November, we learned of a tragedy caused by a situation we thought had become history: 112 people killed by fire in a factory in Bangladesh because of insufficient exits, a horrible echo of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911. The fire at Tazreen Fashions has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where wage costs are low - as little as $37 a month for some workers. Tazreen has supplied clothing to Walmart and Disney.
This is not an exceptional case, nor a rare occurrence: in factories, mines, industrial farms and fields all across the world - and in our own USA - wrokers' rights are being violated routinely. In order to maximize profits, some neglect workers' safety and deny them their basic rights; and many corporations either endorse these practices or partner and do business with those engaging in them. These days the latest names in the news are Disney and Walmart. But the list goes on and on, including thousands of corporations.
Obviously we, Reform rabbis, decry such practices. We would not want to maximize our own profits to the detriment of human rights and lives. Or would we?
Reform Rabbis - WE ARE investors who seek to “maximize profits” without screening for companies that abuse workers' rights. We don’t know if and in how many such corporations we have invested; we do not know in which of those abusive practices we are partnering; we do not know, but we may be the ones doing business this way. We can’t know for sure because the RPB does not select individual companies; the RPB screens out companies only for tobacco and Darfur - but not for labor issues.
Aside from screening for companies engaged in Darfur and reducing our engagement with tobacco, the RPB has no other restrictive screens for Socially Responsible Investing; RPB does not look at the behaviors and practices of the companies we invest in; when RPB gives fund managers SRI instructions on which investments to avoid, workers' rights are not a factor.
And this is only one problem hidden behind the numbers in our Pension Plan (RPB)- there are many others like it.
Violation of workers’ rights, gender discrimination, union-busting, poisoning and polluting the environment - these are violations in which many companies engage, and they very well might be in our RPB portfolios since we do not have any policy or procedure to screen these out, or to stop investing in them.
Reform Jews and Rabbis have taken clear and strong ethical positions on all these issues. But since these are not used as filters and criteria when the RPB chooses where to invest our pension funds, the reality is that our money does not follow the values and positions taken by our Movement and Rabbis with regard to labor and the environment.
I Kings 21:19 "This is what God says: Have you killed, and also profited?!"
What CCAR and URJ have affirmed and resolved:
The 108th CCAR Annual Convention (1997) and the 64th General Assembly of the URJ (1997) reaffirmed the Union for Reform Judaism's long-standing commitment to SRI - Socially Responsible Investing practices. The CCAR instructed its investment committee to "develop investment policies that insure that Jewish values and social responsibility will play major roles in their decision-making processes."
The URJ also instructed its investment committee to ensure that its policies be in accordance with Jewish values, emphasizing that "for the Reform Jewish movement, ... SRI policies and practices are not an optional commitment; they are an organic expression of our core beliefs."
On labor practices and workers' rights:
On 2005 URJ stated: "The right to organize is not only an economic issue; it is also a human rights issue. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that 'Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.' ...ensuring that workers’ rights are protected both domestically and abroad is a critical part of the fight against human rights abuses and global poverty."
There, URJ "resolves to:
1. Support the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively;
2. Call upon employers to:
a. Recognize the rights of those who work for them either directly or indirectly, under contractual arrangements for
services, to be treated with dignity, to be paid a living wage and to work in a healthy, safe and secure workplace;
b. Allow their employees to choose freely whether to unionize or not, without intimidation or coercion."
On the environment:
On 1990 CCAR resolved:
"Reaffirm its commitment to previous resolutions addressing specific threats to the environment and human
well-being;"
"Encourage institutions, congregations, families, and individuals to take it upon themselves to:
a) recycle as much as possible, b) reduce the amount of waste produced, c) reuse as many of their resources as possible d) dispose of hazardous waste products in as safe a way as possible, ..."
Affirming that "it is industry and government that are the primary corruptors and destroyers of the environment and
that it is these sectors of society that therefore bear primary responsibility for repairing the damage already done and preventing further damage from occurring", it further calls to:
"Promote industrial and governmental practice in accord with the ethic of Bal Tashchit (Thou shalt not destroy)", and specifies these main concerns:
i. "the reduction. reuse, and/or recycling of all waste, iii. air, water, and land pollution, v. the use of dangerous pesticides and herbicides, vi. the overuse of our natural resources, vii. any other environmental issues that may arise with the advance of technology and human capability. viii. global issues such as, but not limited to, acid rain, global warming, the development of Antarctica, ozone depletion, and rain forest destruction."
In light of these, we ask RPB:
1.How are these values, and these specific concerns and requirements being followed in RPB?
Can we say that RPB has implemented the CCAR and URJ mandates requiring that we invest “by our Jewish values and core beliefs", when labor practices, workers' rights, and environmental impacts are not guiding factors when choosing investments?
2. How are these "core values" and historic Reform positions (environment, workers' rights) playing "major roles" in investment decisions?
3. Why is it that, among all the Fund Managers used by RPB, there is not one SRI Fund Manager?
4. How is it that RPB does not have even one single SRI fund among all the funds in which our moneys are invested?
5. RPB has restricted investments for Darfur, and has reduced our investments in tobacco - showing that fiduciary duty does not prevent RPB from restricting certain profitable investments when they are found to be unacceptable by ethical and social principles. Then: why have we not similarly restricted our investments in the worst union-busting corporations, in those with clear records of negative labor practices, in those known to be the worst environmental polluters and degraders, and in those who are widely recognized as "worst within their industries"?
Let us insist that the RPB:
-follow the Jewish ethical values concerning labor and the environment we ourselves have proclaimed when it manages our money
-not violate Reform Judaism's ethical and social values as proclaimed by our Movement and stated by our Rabbis
-adhere to all CCAR and URJ resolutions and invest according to the principles of justice and morality that we have specifically called for in them, and follows the positions we take, advocate for, and teach.
We call RPB and our Movement's leadership to:
-provide all RPB participants clear answers to the specific questions raised in this document;
-explain openly what RPB and our Movement are doing - and what they are not doing - to address these issues;
-be transparent, and present the policies and procedures which ensure that all our resolutions are being followed through RPB's investment choices.
If you share some of these concerns, if you want CCAR and URJ resolutions honored,
if you want your retirement money invested according to the values you proclaimed, believe in and teach -
please JOIN US asking RPB and URJ leaders to address all these questions.
Click the button below to add your name to the rabbis and RPB participants concerned about this
(or email [email protected])
Rabbi Ariel Edery, Beth Shalom, Cary, NC
Rabbi Suzanne Singer, Temple Beth El, Riverside, CA
Rabbi Joel N. Abraham, Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains/Fanwood, NJ
Rabbi Rabbi Jason Rosenberg, Beth Am Congregation, Tampa, Fla.
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, Shir Tikvah Congregation, Minneapolis, MN
Rabbi Debra Kassoff, Hebrew Union Congregation, Greenville, MS
Rabbi Linda Bertenthal, Congregation Beth David, San Luis Obispo, CA
Rabbi Cheryl Rosenstein, Temple Beth El, Bakersfield CA
Rabbi Debora S. Gordon, Congregation Berith Sholom, Troy NY
Rabbi Paul F. Cohen, D.Min.,Temple Jeremiah, Northfield, IL
Rabbi Michael Lotker, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Ner Ami, Camarillo, CA
Rabbi Douglas Kohn, Congregation Emanu El, Redlands, CA
Rabbi Hillel Cohn, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Emanuel, San Bernardino CA
Rabbi Judy Shanks, Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, CA
Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Stanford University, CA
Rabbi Justin S. Kerber, Temple Emanuel, St. Louis, MO
Rabbi Steven A. Chester, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Sinai, Oakland, CA
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels, Beth Shir Shalom, Santa Monica, CA
Rabbi Ari Rosenberg, Temple Sha'arey Shalom, Springfield, NJ
Rabbi Roberto Graetz, Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, CA
Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman, Sr. Congregational Consultant, Jewish Reconstructionist Movement, Wyncote, PA
Rabbi Zoe Klein, Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Rabbi Emeritus Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Robin Nafshi, Temple Beth Jacob, Concord, NH
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, Cantor, Central Synagogue, NYC, NY
Rabbi Andrea London, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, Evanston, IL
Rabbi Jonathan D. Klein, Executive Director, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA)
Rabbi Bruce Elder, Congregation Hakafah, Chicago IL
Rabbi Michael Lezak, Congregation Rodef Sholom, San Rafael, CA
Rabbi Gerald Serotta, Shirat HaNefesh Congregation, Chevy chase, MD
Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, Temple Beth El, Charlotte, NC
Rabbi Jay Heyman, Seattle, WA
Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Leo BaeckT emple, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Rebekah Stern, Peninsula Temple Sholom, Burlingame, CA
Rabbi Wendy Spears, Woodland Hills, CA
Rabbi Beth Janus, Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi Jill Zimmerman, The Jewish Mindfulness Network, Los Angeles, CA
-not violate Reform Judaism's ethical and social values as proclaimed by our Movement and stated by our Rabbis
-adhere to all CCAR and URJ resolutions and invest according to the principles of justice and morality that we have specifically called for in them, and follows the positions we take, advocate for, and teach.
We call RPB and our Movement's leadership to:
-provide all RPB participants clear answers to the specific questions raised in this document;
-explain openly what RPB and our Movement are doing - and what they are not doing - to address these issues;
-be transparent, and present the policies and procedures which ensure that all our resolutions are being followed through RPB's investment choices.
If you share some of these concerns, if you want CCAR and URJ resolutions honored,
if you want your retirement money invested according to the values you proclaimed, believe in and teach -
please JOIN US asking RPB and URJ leaders to address all these questions.
Click the button below to add your name to the rabbis and RPB participants concerned about this
(or email [email protected])
Rabbi Ariel Edery, Beth Shalom, Cary, NC
Rabbi Suzanne Singer, Temple Beth El, Riverside, CA
Rabbi Joel N. Abraham, Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains/Fanwood, NJ
Rabbi Rabbi Jason Rosenberg, Beth Am Congregation, Tampa, Fla.
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, Shir Tikvah Congregation, Minneapolis, MN
Rabbi Debra Kassoff, Hebrew Union Congregation, Greenville, MS
Rabbi Linda Bertenthal, Congregation Beth David, San Luis Obispo, CA
Rabbi Cheryl Rosenstein, Temple Beth El, Bakersfield CA
Rabbi Debora S. Gordon, Congregation Berith Sholom, Troy NY
Rabbi Paul F. Cohen, D.Min.,Temple Jeremiah, Northfield, IL
Rabbi Michael Lotker, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Ner Ami, Camarillo, CA
Rabbi Douglas Kohn, Congregation Emanu El, Redlands, CA
Rabbi Hillel Cohn, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Emanuel, San Bernardino CA
Rabbi Judy Shanks, Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, CA
Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Stanford University, CA
Rabbi Justin S. Kerber, Temple Emanuel, St. Louis, MO
Rabbi Steven A. Chester, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Sinai, Oakland, CA
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels, Beth Shir Shalom, Santa Monica, CA
Rabbi Ari Rosenberg, Temple Sha'arey Shalom, Springfield, NJ
Rabbi Roberto Graetz, Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, CA
Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman, Sr. Congregational Consultant, Jewish Reconstructionist Movement, Wyncote, PA
Rabbi Zoe Klein, Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Rabbi Emeritus Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Robin Nafshi, Temple Beth Jacob, Concord, NH
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, Cantor, Central Synagogue, NYC, NY
Rabbi Andrea London, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, Evanston, IL
Rabbi Jonathan D. Klein, Executive Director, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA)
Rabbi Bruce Elder, Congregation Hakafah, Chicago IL
Rabbi Michael Lezak, Congregation Rodef Sholom, San Rafael, CA
Rabbi Gerald Serotta, Shirat HaNefesh Congregation, Chevy chase, MD
Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, Temple Beth El, Charlotte, NC
Rabbi Jay Heyman, Seattle, WA
Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Leo BaeckT emple, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Rebekah Stern, Peninsula Temple Sholom, Burlingame, CA
Rabbi Wendy Spears, Woodland Hills, CA
Rabbi Beth Janus, Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi Jill Zimmerman, The Jewish Mindfulness Network, Los Angeles, CA
