Pension beneficiaries urge WSIB to cut ties with weapons makers, private prisons and fossil fuels

Hundreds of beneficiaries and community members pressed the Washington State Investment Board during the public‑comment period to reduce direct investments in companies they said profit from human-rights abuses, immigration detention and fossil-fuel production.

"Students struggle to understand how today's leaders are willing to prioritize capital over our families, communities, and planet," said Zohar Lev Cunningham, a clinical social worker at the University of Washington. He urged the board "to immediately reduce exposure in harmful stocks such as the GEO Group, Raytheon, and Palantir." Multiple commenters repeated that demand, naming contractors and private‑prison firms they said are implicated in abuses.

Several union leaders and health‑care workers linked fiduciary duty and ethics. "My pension funds are burning Palestinian families alive, starving them, [and] freezing them to death," Jen Greenstein said, identifying herself as a school social worker and SEA member. "I implore you to cut ties with genocide." Lisa Morrow, a retired bedside nurse, urged creation of screening criteria and investment in alternatives that would meet return targets without the companies she called "criminal enterprises."

Speakers also highlighted financial risk. Chris Selsa, a forester and WPEA shop steward, emphasized litigation and sanction risk, citing settlements and sanctions that, he said, can materially erode corporate value: "We don't want to be profiting off the harm of our own members." Several speakers referenced lists and reports (AFSC lists, private‑equity climate scorecards) and municipal actions in other states as evidence that divestment can be both principled and prudent.

Board staff acknowledged receipt of 18 written public comments and said those were provided to members in advance. The board did not take immediate action on the public requests during this meeting, but the issue was a recurrent theme during committee discussions and will be part of future stakeholder work and policy considerations.