[mgj-discuss] Fw: Cambridge, Ma. Joins World Bank Bonds Boycott

[Neil Watkins]

FYI

After more than a year of intensive education and organizing by BankBusters 
in Boston/Cambridge, last night, the city council in Cambridge, Ma. voted 
9-0 to adopt the World Bank Bonds Boycott! Information on the vote, a press 
release, and copies of the resolutions follow below.

Below:
1) Note from organizer Basav Sen, BankBusters, about the victory!
2) Press Release: Cambridge Becomes Seventh U.S. City to Join World Bank 
Bonds Boycott
3) Copies of Resolutions passed by the Cambridge City Council

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1) Note from organizer Basav Sen, member of BankBusters, about the victory!

From: "Basav Sen" <basav at igc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 4:47 AM
Subject: REALLY good news!

Friends,
Cambridge City Council passed the World Bank Bond Boycott by a unanimous 
(9-0) vote tonight. The sustained campaign of more than a year has paid off 
at last!

The benefits for the movement are immense: it gives us greater legitimacy 
when we speak. It is a huge slap in the face of the likes of Wolfensohn 
(when he comes to Cambridge to speak at MIT in June
for commencement), and Larry Summers. Most of all, the 25 endorsing groups 
for the boycott and the 900+ signatures on our petition represent a huge 
public education and awareness campaign that has succeeded.

A very diverse coalition of groups has worked on the campaign. We had 11 
people from various organizations (as well as Cambridge residents 
unaffiliated with any group) testify in support of the campaign in the 
hearings tonight.

Also, We got two more things than we asked for:

1. The city is calling on the State to boycott WB bonds and is sending a 
copy of the resolution to the governor and the state legislators from 
Cambridge.

2. The city has asked the City Manager to figure out other ways in which 
they can resist the World Bank. (We've already started to think what some 
of these might be, including a polite but clear letter to
the President of MIT saying that while of course MIT is free to make their 
own choice of commencement speaker, the city has some things to say about 
that choice....)

Thank you to everyone getting this e-mail who has worked to make this 
happen! And onward to other places for the boycott. We'll also be sending 
out a more formal press release soon.

In solidarity,
Basav

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2)  Press Release: Cambridge Becomes Seventh U.S. City to Join World Bank 
Bonds Boycott

WORLD BANK BONDS BOYCOTT
BankBusters, 29 Elm St. #2, Somerville, MA, 02143 * (617) 755-0795
Center for Economic Justice, 733 15th St., NW, Suite 928, Washington, DC, 
20005 * (202) 393-6665

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 30, 2002

CONTACT: Cambridge - Catherine Benedict, 617-719-8684
                         Monica Olick, 617-354-6451
                 Washington, DC - Neil Watkins, 202-393-6665

CAMBRIDGE BECOMES SEVENTH U.S. CITY TO BOYCOTT WORLD BANK BONDS

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The Cambridge City Council voted 9-0 Monday night to 
support a resolution against investing in World Bank Bonds until the World 
Bank changes its destructive policies.

"Both myself and the city council in Cambridge have insisted on setting 
high standards for environmental protection and workers rights," said 
Michael Sullivan, the Mayor of Cambridge. "This resolution [to boycott 
World Bank Bonds] goes along with our belief that we should not be 
investing in entities that don't meet the high standards that we set. The 
resolution ensures that our city's funds won't be used to invest in World 
Bank bonds in the future."

With the passage of this resolution, Cambridge became the seventh city in 
the US to join the boycott, and the first in the Northeast. The resolution 
also called on the Massachusetts State Legislature and the Governor to join 
the boycott at the state level.

"We as city councilmembers in Cambridge feel very strongly that it is 
inappropriate for our dollars to support an organization like the World 
Bank that doesn't respect labor standards or the right to organize," said 
Marjorie Decker, a member of the Cambridge City Council and lead sponsor of 
the resolution. "The World Bank has had harmful effects on local 
communities and peoples around the globe. With this resolution, we are 
saying that our community does not approve."

"The World Bank receives 80% of its funding from the sale of bonds," said 
Catherine Benedict of Bankbusters, a local volunteer group which 
spearheaded the Cambridge campaign. "By refusing to invest in the World 
Bank, Cambridge and other cities and organizations are having a real 
material impact on the Bank."

A number of Cambridge residents testified in favor of the resolution. Some 
of the organizations represented included Cambridge's Area 4 Neighborhood 
Coalition, Carpenters Local 40, Centro Presente, and the National Lawyers 
Guild. Speakers discussed the World Bank's impact on workers who have lost 
jobs, on immigrants forced to flee poverty in their homelands, on the 
environment, and more. More than 20 organizations in the city had endorsed 
the campaign, along with roughly 900 individuals who signed petitions.

The resolution specifically called on the bank to respect labor rights, 
stop promoting privatization, cancel 100% of debts owed to it by 
impoverished nations, and stop the imposition of destructive economic 
policies. It also instructed the City Manager to investigate and report on 
further steps the City could take to oppose the destructive policies of the 
World Bank.

The World Bank Bonds Boycott campaign is a growing global initiative that 
puts pressure on the World Bank to make fundamental changes. Since its 
launch by civil society groups from more than 30 global South countries and 
the U.S. in April 2000, the campaign has gotten more than four dozen 
institutional investors to commit not to buy World Bank bonds, including 
city councils in Milwaukee, Boulder, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, 
Takoma Park, Md., and dozens of religious institutions and labor unions. 
Ten of the largest socially responsible investment funds in the US, 
controlling more than $16 billion in assets, have also adopted the boycott.

###

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3) Resolutions Passed by the Cambridge City Council

Resolution #1:

Whereas, The World Bank is a principal architect and enforcer of
corporate globalization by opening the doors to the relocation of
manufacturing jobs from the US to countries like Mexico and Honduras;
and

Whereas, The World Bank refuses to respect the internationally
recognized core labor standards of freedom of association and the right
to engage in collective bargaining and seeks to make poor countries
convenient and cheap for foreign investment, even to the point of urging
Mexico to eliminate labor standards; and

Whereas, The World Bank pushes developing countries to restructure their
economies for the benefit of transnational corporations and foreign
investors, and to produce for export to the United States rather than
producing for the needs of the majority of the population; and

Whereas, The World Bank aggressively promotes privatization, including
privatization of basic public services such as education, health care,
water and public pension systems; and

Whereas, The World Bank has refused the demands of the Jubilee 2000
movement to cancel 100% of its debt claim against poor countries using
the World Bank's own resources, and continues to collect debt payments
from countries, which are spending more on debt service to external
creditors than they are spending on health care and education; and

Whereas, The World Bank is an institution which is neither accountable
to the majority of people in the developing countries where it operates,
nor to the taxpayers of the United States which is its principal
shareholder; and

Whereas, 80% of the resources controlled by the World Bank come from the
sale of World Bank bonds to institutional investors, including pension
funds, and these resources are used to carry out the aforementioned
destructive economic policies; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Cambridge City Council declares its support for the
boycott of the World Bank bonds until the World Bank respects labor rights, 
stops promoting
privatization, cancels 100% of debts owed to it by impoverished nations
and stops the imposition of destructive economic policies; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Cambridge City Council calls upon and urges
the State Legislature and the Governor to use their best efforts and
influence to ensure that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts divests of
any bonds it may currently hold that may have been issued by the World
Bank, and further that no said bonds will be purchased; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the City Clerk shall forward copies of this
resolution to Governor Swift and the Cambridge delegation to the State
Legislature.

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Resolution #2

WHEREAS: From this date forward, the Cambridge City Council desires the
City of Cambridge to implement a policy not to purchase bonds issued by
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World
Bank) or invest money in any investment fund that holds World Bank
bonds, until such date as the World Bank implements all of the following
conditions:

Cancel 100% of illegitimate debts owed to them, without use of tax
dollars;

Make all board meetings of the World Bank open to the public and to the
news media.

Make all decisions by recorded vote, and make transcripts available
after the meetings;

Make all negotiations with developing country governments fully
transparent, with all agreements available for public inspection,
debate, and approval before they are signed;

Make a firm, verifiable commitment not to impose Structural Adjustment
and similar conditions as a requirement for loans;

Make a firm, verifiable commitment not to require privatization of basic
services such as health care, education, and water supply, and not to
require "user fees" for these services as a condition for loans, and
particularly, not to require African countries to impose user fees and
reduce poor people's access to health care at a time when the African
continent is being ravaged by AIDS;

Make a firm, verifiable commitment not to lend for environmentally
destructive projects such as large dams, logging, oil and gas, mining,
and unsustainable fishing, and particularly, to implement the
recommendations of the World Commission on Dams; and

WHEREAS: The City Council desires investigation of additional means by
which the City of Cambridge can take action against the policies of the
World Bank; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back
to the City Council with a plan for implementation of the policy set
forth in the first paragraph of this order; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager investigate and report on what other
steps the City could take to oppose the destructive policies of the
World Bank; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Clerk forward a copy of this resolution to the
Massachusetts Congressional Delegation on behalf of the entire City Council.






* Please note NEW address and phone number *

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Neil Watkins
World Bank Bonds Boycott
Center for Economic Justice
733 15th St., NW, Suite 928
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 393-6665
Fax: (202) 393-1358
Web: www.worldbankboycott.org

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