The press release says the coordinating committee of the Hawaii Committee for Africa and a group of Hawaii state legislators organized by Rep. David Hagino will meet with the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System on November 27, 1989 to urge the Board to immediately implement their policy of divestment of E.R.S. funds from all companies doing business with South Africa. The 1988 State Legislature - with strong support from the Governor, all public unions, and many other community groups - passed a resolution urging divestment of all state monies from companies doing business with South Africa, including some $600 million in ERS funds. In August 1988, the Board of Trustees selected...
The press release says the coordinating committee of the Hawaii Committee for Africa and a group of Hawaii state legislators organized by Rep. David Hagino will meet with the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System on November 27, 1989 to urge the Board to immediately implement their policy of divestment of E.R.S. funds from all companies doing business with South Africa. The 1988 State Legislature - with strong support from the Governor, all public unions, and many other community groups - passed a resolution urging divestment of all state monies from companies doing business with South Africa, including some $600 million in ERS funds. In August 1988, the Board of Trustees selected a committee, comprised of Jerry Ruthruff and Yukio Takemoto, to develop a policy on how to divest. According to Board of Trustees spokesperson Stanley Siu, as of October 1989, there had been no progress in developing this policy, despite a statement by Peter Suemori, former Chair of the Board of Trustees, in a November 1988 meeting with a member of the Hawaii Committee for Africa that he expected the policy to be completed and implemented by the end of the 1989 Legislative Session. The press release says the need to immediately begin divestment of state funds has been highlighted by recent events in South Africa. The small positive changes there have occurred as a result of economic sanctions against South Africa from countries all over the world. Also, the deteriorating state of the South African economy makes it necessary to divest state funds in order to protect them from inevitable declines in the stock values of companies doing business with South Africa. Thus, divestment clearly is in the interest of state employees and retirees. The press release says the coordinating committee will remind the Boar of trustees of their moral and fiduciary responsibilities in managing ERS funds and will provide copies of a recent statement by South African anti-apartheid groups urging increased economic sanctions and internationally approved divestment guidelines for use in formulating their divestment policies. The contact person is Dr. Joel Fischer.
