The Burnaby Teachers' Association doesn't want teachers' pension funds invested in a well-known weapons manufacturer and a company they say is making private profits off the public education system.
"As the Burnaby Teachers' Association, we see ourselves as responsible citizens with strong community values," president James Sanyshyn said in a press release. "Our members feel it contradicts those values if our pension is invested in enterprises that promote violence or undermine public services."
The association is taking two motions on the matter to the annual general meeting of the B.C. Teachers' Federation in mid-March.
The motions urge the BCTF to request that the British Columbia Investment Management
Corporation, through which invests B.C. teachers' pension contributions, to reinvest current Lockheed Martin and Pearson holdings in other areas.
Lockheed Martin manufacturers weapons, and according to the association, the company's products include warplanes, missiles and missile delivery systems.
"These products have been responsible for human misery. Burnaby teachers do not feel comfortable profiting - directly or indirectly - from such products," the association stated in a press release.
The teachers' association also has problems with Pearson, which maintains information service contracts with public education authorities.
"Pearson serves a mandate of private profit from public investment, which Burnaby teachers feel undermines public education as a universally accessible service," the association states.
The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation has approximately $16 million invested in Lockheed Martin and $8 million dollars invested in Pearson.
