St. Paul, MN – MAPE, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, is an independent union representing approximately 15,000 employees of the State of Minnesota. At their October 26 delegate assembly, MAPE approved a resolution titled “Supporting a Ceasefire and Divestment in Israel-Palestine.” It included strong steps towards divesting both MAPE and Minnesota’s State Board of Investments (SBI) from apartheid Israel. The MAPE Ceasefire Caucus organizing team had conversations with nearly every delegate over the last six weeks in preparation for the vote, which ended up with 82 for, 49 against, with 17 abstaining.
The text calls for the creation of a Pension Divestment task force within MAPE to research the best ways to get the SBI to divest – looking at legislative avenues as well as through connecting to other public sector unions. The task force plans to “…support legislation requiring the SBI to divest MAPE pension contributions from such entities, including drafting model legislation, identifying potential legislative sponsors, and including such legislation in any lobbying efforts, such as MAPE Lobby Day.”
The resolution also calls for MAPE’s board of directors and executive committee to “…issue a statement in favor of a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, and call upon the SBI to divest MAPE pension contributions from foreign governments, institutions, weapons manufacturers, firms, corporations and other similar entities which commission, provide material assistance to, or profit from, the commission or maintenance of violations of international law and human rights.” As far as MAPE itself, it must “…immediately divest any of its own funds from such entities.”
These steps towards divestment align with a growing movement among labor groups advocating for the cessation of all U.S. aid to Israel and supporting the liberation of Palestine. Notably, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW), United Electrical Workers (UE), and Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) have signed a letter to President Biden calling for an arms embargo against apartheid Israel. These unions represent a combined 6 million members, almost half of the United States’ 14 million unionized workers.
This demand is being made with historical precedent, as the Minnesota State Board of Investment voted in 1985 to divest from the apartheid state of South Africa.