Statement at the TIAA-CREF Annual Meeting of Ray Rogers

Campaign to Stop Killer Coke

Statement at the TIAA-CREF Annual Meeting
of Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Director Ray Rogers



	My name is Ray Rogers and I am a proxy representing Margaret Houlihan. Before I cast my vote for election of trustees, I want to know if the trustees are going to view TIAA-CREF primarily as investor in corporations or as an owner of corporations. If you view TIAA-CREF primarily as in investor with the overriding goal of maximizing return, you'll probably do more to harm society than to benefit it. If you view TIAA-CREF primarily as an owner, you'll accept responsibility that comes with ownership and you will be very careful that your investments do not support companies that exploit and do great harm to society. I believe that the vast majority of TIAA-CREF participants do not want to own a piece of the tobacco industry or accept responsibility for the devastation caused by companies like Phillip Morris/Altria. I do not believe that TIAA-CREF participants want to accept responsibility for the terrible harm done by a company like Coca-Cola: A company 1. that is complicit in gross labor and human rights abuses including kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders at its bottling plants in Colombia; A company 2. that gives a handful of executives hundreds of millions in bonuses and stock options while simultaneously lays off thousands of employees. A company 3. that engages in all sorts of fraudulent, illegal and unethical business practices, and 4. that degrades the environment and seriously undermines the health and well-being of children worldwide. Sixteen colleges and universities, including nearby Rutgers University and Union Theological Seminary and teachers unions, including the 525,000 member New York State United Teachers, the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York, the American Association of University Professors at Rutgers, the California Federation of Teachers and the United Teachers of Los Angeles have all banned the sale and marketing of Coca-Cola products from their facilities and events because of the companies complicity in human rights abuses documented by many including NYC Council Member Hiram Monserrate. Coca-Cola is a bad investment by any measure. Will the trustees immediately act to remove Coca-Cola from CREF's Social Choice Account? The company by any stretch of the imagination doesn't belong there. Will the trustees use TIAA-CREF's hundreds of millions invested in Coke stock as a club to force Coca-Cola to clean up its act or else remove Coca-Cola from its portfolio of investments. Will the trustees set policy that TIAA-CREF investments must be tobacco-free? As the old saying goes: If you're not part of the solution, Then you are part of the problem. To get this vote, the trustees are going to have to commit to taking a leadership role in becoming a part of the solution. Such a role will be of great benefit to TIAA-CREF participants and to society in general.

My name is Ray Rogers and I am a proxy representing Margaret Houlihan. Before I cast my vote for election of trustees, I want to know if the trustees are going to view TIAA-CREF primarily as investor in corporations or as an owner of corporations.

If you view TIAA-CREF primarily as in investor with the overriding goal of maximizing return, you'll probably do more to harm society than to benefit it.

If you view TIAA-CREF primarily as an owner, you'll accept responsibility that comes with ownership and you will be very careful that your investments do not support companies that exploit and do great harm to society.

I believe that the vast majority of TIAA-CREF participants do not want to own a piece of the tobacco industry or accept responsibility for the devastation caused by companies like Phillip Morris/Altria.

I do not believe that TIAA-CREF participants want to accept responsibility for the terrible harm done by a company like Coca-Cola:

A company
1. that is complicit in gross labor and human rights abuses including kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders at its bottling plants in Colombia;

A company
2. that gives a handful of executives hundreds of millions in bonuses and stock options while simultaneously lays off thousands of employees.

A company
3. that engages in all sorts of fraudulent, illegal and unethical business practices, and

4. that degrades the environment and seriously undermines the health and well-being of children worldwide.

Sixteen colleges and universities, including nearby Rutgers University and Union Theological Seminary and teachers unions, including the 525,000 member New York State United Teachers, the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York, the American Association of University Professors at Rutgers, the California Federation of Teachers and the United Teachers of Los Angeles have all banned the sale and marketing of Coca-Cola products from their facilities and events because of the companies complicity in human rights abuses documented by many including NYC Council Member Hiram Monserrate. Coca-Cola is a bad investment by any measure.

Will the trustees immediately act to remove Coca-Cola from CREF's Social Choice Account? The company by any stretch of the imagination doesn't belong there.

Will the trustees use TIAA-CREF's hundreds of millions invested in Coke stock as a club to force Coca-Cola to clean up its act or else remove Coca-Cola from its portfolio of investments.

Will the trustees set policy that TIAA-CREF investments must be tobacco-free?

As the old saying goes:

If you're not part of the solution,
Then you are part of the problem.

To get this vote, the trustees are going to have to commit to taking a leadership role in becoming a part of the solution. Such a role will be of great benefit to TIAA-CREF participants and to society in general.