Teamsters' boss urges divesting from Iran

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Published: 08/27/2007

The Teamsters' president urged pension funds affiliated with his union to divest from Iran.

"I believe that divestiture of investments in companies that do business with Iran can help bring peaceful change to that nation," James Hoffa wrote in an Aug. 22 letter to 179 Teamster funds. "Shareholder democracy brought about change in South Africa and in Latin America, and it can work again in the Middle East."

Hoffa cited Iran's suspected development of a nuclear weapon, its backing for terrorists and its abuse of employees who attempt to unionize as reasons to divest. He noted that a bill passed last month by the U.S. House of Representatives protects funds that divest from Iran from lawsuits.

The Teamsters represents 1.4 million workers in supply industries in the United States and Canada. Its combined estimated pension worth is $100 billion.

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