In the United States, we are living through a\u00a0time of crisis. We\u2019re witnessing a\u00a0U.S.-backed genocide as Palestinian children are being starved. Our government is disappearing immigrants and U.S. citizens alike because of the color of their skin and their willingness to speak truth to power. Millions lack basic healthcare, companies are kicking families out of their homes and most of us are paid barely enough to\u00a0survive.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re living on the edge, terrified and\u00a0traumatized.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the perpetrators of this unbearable status quo\u2009\u2014\u2009billionaires, their companies and the government structures they now control\u2009\u2014\u2009are using our money to fund these injustices while building their\u00a0fortunes.<\/p>\n
Pension funds\u2009\u2014\u2009totaling $6.1 trillion<\/a> in state and local defined-benefit funds alone, as of March\u2009\u2014\u2009are among the largest pots of our money that private equity firms and other financial players use to make themselves richer while ravaging our communities. These funds are workers\u2019 hard-earned cash\u2009\u2014\u2009their deferred compensation that is supposed to ensure they can retire with dignity. Instead, pension funds are being harnessed by the ultrawealthy to line their pockets while making our lives\u00a0worse.<\/p>\n \n Sign up for our weekend newsletter<\/p>\n \n A weekly digest of our best coverage\n <\/p>\n These financial players and institutions rely on financial jargon and evolving corporate structures\u2009\u2014\u2009such as hedge funds, private equity and venture capital\u2009\u2014\u2009to rig our economic system and squeeze out more profits. They execute their extractive investment strategies using large pots of money they acquire access to, including pension funds and endowments. Now, these same forces are setting their sights<\/a> on our 401(k)s and will continue attempting to gain control of all workers\u2019 capital to swell their fortunes. In August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order opening the door for \u200b\u201calternative assets,\u201d like private equity and cryptocurrency, to be offered as part of 401(k)s. Private equity titans like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman have long dreamed of accessing these types of accounts, collectively valued at over $12\u00a0trillion.<\/p>\n What does it look like when our retirement money is controlled by ultrawealthy financial players like Apollo Global Management, TPG and Valor Equity Partners? In 2024, the Los Angeles Times reported<\/a> that public pensions in California had been invested in funds, managed by private equity behemoth Blackstone, that were responsible for gouging rents in San Diego. Some of the very same public workers whose pensions were invested in private equity funds were being overburdened by those funds\u2019 rent-gouging. While firms such as Blackstone report short-term profits from tactics like aggressively raising rents in buildings they own, they are simultaneously harming workers and their ability to find stable housing. Meanwhile, these companies charge pension funds a\u00a0variety of fees for managing their money, raking in even more\u00a0cash.<\/p>\n These firms are using workers\u2019 money to damage our communities while lining the pockets of some of the richest people in the country, who have also supported Trump and his campaign of cruelty: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman is worth more than $50 billion and has endorsed<\/a> and fundraised for Trump. Apollo CEO Marc Rowan is worth more than $7.8 billion and Trump considered him<\/a> for Treasury secretary. Valor Equity Partners CEO Antonio Gracias\u2019 estimated net worth is $2.3 billion, and, until recently, he worked with DOGE<\/a>, first around Social Security misinformation and then heading an immigration task force. The list goes\u00a0on.<\/p>\n As the Trump administration continues to destroy consumer protections, regulations and our already meager labor laws, private equity firms, hedge funds, banks and the billionaires who run them have gained more power than ever. What we\u2019re witnessing will lead to the largest wealth transfer we\u2019ve ever seen from our communities to the super\u00a0rich.\u00a0<\/p>\n A huge portion of the money these financial players are using to exploit our communities is union members\u2019 hard-earned retirement dollars. With millions of members and a\u00a0tradition of organizing, the labor movement is well positioned to stop this looting. Yet, despite the movement\u2019s long history of engagement with workers\u2019 capital, traditional tools won\u2019t\u00a0suffice.\u00a0<\/p>\n What should our new strategies look like? Three key approaches that labor should\u00a0pursue:\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Activate local union membership by sharing information on how their money is being invested and identifying alternative investment\u00a0opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Identify when investment decisions are being made and mobilize members to ensure workers\u2019 retirement money is not channeled to these\u00a0billionaires.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Use existing infrastructure to invest in alternative vehicles that will benefit our own\u00a0communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n We must build a\u00a0mass movement\u2009\u2014\u2009led by workers and pensioners across the labor, environmental and racial justice communities\u2009\u2014\u2009to stop the flow of money from working people to these billionaires. It won\u2019t be easy, but some pension holders and their unions are already fighting to change this\u00a0system.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2022 and 2023, the Oregon Investment Council\u2019s investment in a\u00a0fund that owned NSO Group\u2009\u2014\u2009an Israeli spyware company that developed Pegasus, which \u200b\u201ccan hack into any phone, intercept calls and messages and can turn the phone into a\u00a0remote listening device\u201d\u2009\u2014\u2009came under fire by multiple Oregon labor movement organizations. The Portland Association of Teachers passed a\u00a0resolution<\/a> calling for the \u200b\u201cimmediate and complete divestment of state pension funds from Novalpina Capital,\u201d which owned NSO Group. A\u00a0resolution supported by the Oregon AFL-CIO and the Oregon AFSCME called for the \u200b\u201cimmediate and complete\u201d divestment of state pension funds from the fund that owns NSO once \u200b\u201csuitable alternatives\u201d are\u00a0identified.\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of its 2024 contract fight, AFSCME 3299, which represents service workers across the University of California system, called for pension disinvestment from bad corporate actors and proposals benefitting the common good. The union\u2019s demands are excerpted\u00a0below:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe University shall divest the University Retirement Plan and General Endowment Pool from Blackstone and other housing corporations failing to commit to responsible landlord standards of: freezing of rental rates, no \u200b\u2018no fault\u2019 evictions, and safe and health[y] properties. \u2026 The University shall invest the billions currently invested in Blackstone in truly affordable, social housing for students, employees, and community \u2026 Such housing shall include substantial allocations for individuals who fall into the \u200b\u2018Extremely Low,\u2019 \u200b\u2018Very Low,\u2019 \u200b\u2018Low\u2019 and \u200b\u2018Moderate\u2019 income\u00a0categories.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In July 2024, members of SEIU 1021, which represents more than 60,000 employees in local governments, nonprofit agencies, healthcare programs and schools throughout Northern California, passed a\u00a0resolution<\/a> calling for divestment from weapons manufacturers and \u200b\u201ccompanies that build technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and surveillance technology for military use,\u201d private prison companies, immigrant detention companies and border patrol contractors, \u200b\u201ccompanies that profit from apartheid, colonization and ethnic cleansing,\u201d and the fossil fuel\u00a0industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n In August 2024, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades President Jimmy Williams Jr. announced his union\u2019s pension fund is divesting from the Gaza genocide<\/a>. <\/p>\n Though the movement to change the pension system is growing, billionaires, their companies and their allies have spent decades building infrastructure to control the money workers spent a\u00a0lifetime earning. They\u2019ve convinced many of us, including most trustees who make investment decisions, that the current system is necessary, beneficial and the best or only pathway. But it clearly isn\u2019t working for workers and their\u00a0families.\u00a0<\/p>\n Retaking control of our collective financial investment is an essential part of the fight against fascism and the destruction of our communities\u2009\u2014\u2009this fight is the bedrock of creating the world we want to leave for future generations to\u00a0come.<\/p>\n