NO PENSIONS FOR GENOCIDE!
On Thursday, November 13th, community members organized in Richmond, Virginia to confront an institution that uses workers’ hard earned money to fund genocide: the Virginia Retirement System. While Virginians want their pensions and tax dollars to be given back to the community in the form of affordable and accessible housing, education and healthcare, the VRS instead elects to use workers’ hard-earned money to invest in weapons manufacturing companies that are responsible for destroying Palestinian lives. Thus far, the VRS has invested more than $300 million in weapons manufacturers and logistics giants, but the people say no more! The No Pensions for Genocide campaign aims to hold the VRS accountable, demanding the company to divest from investing in genocide. We are fighting for a Virginia that serves the people, not corporate interests and bloodshed.
On Thursday, November 13th, community members organized in Richmond, Virginia to confront an institution that uses workers’ hard earned money to fund genocide: the Virginia Retirement System. While Virginians want their pensions and tax dollars to be given back to the community in the form of affordable and accessible housing, education and healthcare, the VRS instead elects to use workers’ hard-earned money to invest in weapons manufacturing companies that are responsible for destroying Palestinian lives. Thus far, the VRS has invested more than $300 million in weapons manufacturers and logistics giants, but the people say no more! The No Pensions for Genocide campaign aims to hold the VRS accountable, demanding the company to divest from investing in genocide. We are fighting for a Virginia that serves the people, not corporate interests and bloodshed.
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Sign the petition at vrsdivest.org to hold the VRS responsible for using your earnings and tax dollars to murder and displace Palestinians!
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Over 1,200 people have signed the No Pensions for Genocide petition, sending a total of over 20,000 emails. These emails have been sent to the VRS Board of Trustees and the Investment Advisory Committee calling on them to (1) Divest any direct holdings in weapons manufacturers and shipping companies that facilitate the genocide of the Palestinian people and (2) Revise the VRS investment policy to ensure that it does not invest in any companies that manufacture or ship weapons or weapons components.
Every day, the VRS grows its investments in weapons manufacturers, and every day, the movement challenging those investments grow. Sign the petition today and join over a thousand people in ending investments in war and genocide!
Every day, the VRS grows its investments in weapons manufacturers, and every day, the movement challenging those investments grow. Sign the petition today and join over a thousand people in ending investments in war and genocide!
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PROFIT OVER PEOPLE: The VRS has arbitrarily sent emails in response to select petition signers. Rather than meaningfully engage with the demands of the petition and those who signed it, they provide a list of excuses in an attempt to evade accountability for their investments. The VRS hides behind a smokescreen of legal and financial jargon, opting to justify their complicity in companies who weaponize genocide. Their excuses fail to cover up the nature of their investment portfolio: the VRS values profit over people. When the corporations they choose to invest in supply a live-streamed genocide, how can profit be the only investment consideration? The VRS must divest from genocide and endless war. Workers and taxpayers should have a say in how public money is spent.
Swipe to challenge their excuses.
SIGN THE PETITION: vrsdivest.org
ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN: vrsdivest.org/endorse
Swipe to challenge their excuses.
SIGN THE PETITION: vrsdivest.org
ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN: vrsdivest.org/endorse
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The Richmond Free Press published an article covering the rally and press conference last week outside the VRS building in Richmond. The article covers why public sector workers are calling for the VRS to divest $300 million from weapons and logistics firms who fuel the genocide in Gaza, the violent arrest of a firefighter at the last VRS board meeting, and the work of the campaign to spread awareness of VRS' complicity. Read the rest of the article here: https://m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/nov/20/rally-calls-for-vrs-divestment-over-gaza/
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This Christmas, we recommit to the call for a global arms embargo. The Virginia Retirement System invests $300 million of state pensions into corporations responsible for arming and supplying Israel’s genocide and endless wars. As Virginian workers and taxpayers, we demand a say in how public money is spent. And the bare minimum is that our money should go to better our communities, not destroy them here and abroad.
Sign the petition and add your voice to thousands demanding divestment: vrsdivest.org
Sign the petition and add your voice to thousands demanding divestment: vrsdivest.org
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In:
- Democratic and transparent pensions
- Listening to VRS members and VA residents
Out:
- Investing in war and genocide
- Ignoring input from workers about where their hard earned money goes
Sign the petition and learn about the campaign: vrsdivest.org
- Democratic and transparent pensions
- Listening to VRS members and VA residents
Out:
- Investing in war and genocide
- Ignoring input from workers about where their hard earned money goes
Sign the petition and learn about the campaign: vrsdivest.org
U.S. OUT OF VENEZUELA! VRS MUST DIVEST FROM WAR!
Two days ago, the United States engaged in large-scale attacks on Venezuela, a brazen violation of international law. These violations come after two years of imperialist and Zionist genocide in Gaza, and decades-old patterns of imperialist aggression to further U.S. energy and economic interests at the cost of life and sovereignty.
This could not have been made possible without the Virginia Retirement System which invests $300 million in weapons manufacturers who profit from endless wars. While millions continue to be poured into war making, Virginians continue to lack adequate access to housing, food, education, and healthcare. To learn more about the campaign and sign the petition, visit vrsdivest.org (link in bio).
END U.S. IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION! ARMS EMBARGO NOW!
Two days ago, the United States engaged in large-scale attacks on Venezuela, a brazen violation of international law. These violations come after two years of imperialist and Zionist genocide in Gaza, and decades-old patterns of imperialist aggression to further U.S. energy and economic interests at the cost of life and sovereignty.
This could not have been made possible without the Virginia Retirement System which invests $300 million in weapons manufacturers who profit from endless wars. While millions continue to be poured into war making, Virginians continue to lack adequate access to housing, food, education, and healthcare. To learn more about the campaign and sign the petition, visit vrsdivest.org (link in bio).
END U.S. IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION! ARMS EMBARGO NOW!
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TRUMP’S PEACE IS WAR! VRS MUST DIVEST!
In the past year, the Trump administration has bombed 8 countries: Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Nigeria, and culminating this week in Venezuela. Trump claims to put America-first and love peace, meanwhile, he siphons millions of tax payer dollars to provoke wars rather than investing in the needs of the people domestically. We see through this smokescreen. Wars only advance the ruling class and their profit motives, at the expense of the working class domestically and abroad.
We demand a say in where public money is invested. The bare minimum is that it does not go to corporations who profit off of war. In Virginia, the Virginia Retirement System invests $300 million in 14 of these companies. We reject that our taxes and pensions are being used to increase their bottom line.
Sign the petition to show your support for divestment: vrsdivest.org (link in bio).
In the past year, the Trump administration has bombed 8 countries: Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Nigeria, and culminating this week in Venezuela. Trump claims to put America-first and love peace, meanwhile, he siphons millions of tax payer dollars to provoke wars rather than investing in the needs of the people domestically. We see through this smokescreen. Wars only advance the ruling class and their profit motives, at the expense of the working class domestically and abroad.
We demand a say in where public money is invested. The bare minimum is that it does not go to corporations who profit off of war. In Virginia, the Virginia Retirement System invests $300 million in 14 of these companies. We reject that our taxes and pensions are being used to increase their bottom line.
Sign the petition to show your support for divestment: vrsdivest.org (link in bio).
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The Virginia Retirement System invests $300 million from Virginians’ tax dollars and pensions into the military corporations that develop the surveillance and weapons technologies used to target our migrant communities and profit from endless wars, without our consent. The VRS is an artery of the war machine that is dependent on our labor. But its complicity can be rooted our through our collective organizing. From Palestine to Minneapolis and Venezuela, the power of the masses is an impregnable force, ready to strike empire wherever it festers.
Join thousands in calling on VRS to divest from corporations that enable violence against our communities: vrsdivest.org
Join thousands in calling on VRS to divest from corporations that enable violence against our communities: vrsdivest.org
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This morning, Abigail Spanberger was inaugurated as governor of the commonwealth. Hailed by many as a progressive, we insist that her term must reflect those values and the values of Virginians. The bare minimum is that our pensions and public money benefit people, not war profiteers. Join the call to demand VRS divest by signing the petition at vrsdivest.org
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VRS: NO MONEY FOR WEAPONS AND WAR. vrsdivest.org
As Governor Spanberger was inaugurated on Saturday, Virginians dropped this banner in Arlington, not too far from the weapons manufacturers themselves. If Governor Spanberger is to listen to the people, she must hear our calls for divestment. No longer can the commonwealth subsidize war profiteers and stain our pensions with blood. In times of increasing militarism and fascism, we have a responsibility to limit the flow of arms used to perpetuate endless war and violence here and abroad. We demand full divestment from weapons manufacturers and an ethical investment policy that guarantees that our pensions are no longer complicit in genocide. Voice your support at vrsdivest.org
As Governor Spanberger was inaugurated on Saturday, Virginians dropped this banner in Arlington, not too far from the weapons manufacturers themselves. If Governor Spanberger is to listen to the people, she must hear our calls for divestment. No longer can the commonwealth subsidize war profiteers and stain our pensions with blood. In times of increasing militarism and fascism, we have a responsibility to limit the flow of arms used to perpetuate endless war and violence here and abroad. We demand full divestment from weapons manufacturers and an ethical investment policy that guarantees that our pensions are no longer complicit in genocide. Voice your support at vrsdivest.org
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