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CWA Presses Disney on Corporate Accountability
NABET-CWA members and supporters took their campaign for corporate accountability at Walt Disney Co., to shareholders attending the company's annual meeting in Denver.
NABET-CWA is negotiating with Disney/ABC for a new contract covering 5,000 ABC workers nationwide. The current contract expires March 31.
The CWA-sponsored resolution called on the board of directors to adopt an executive compensation policy requiring that future grants of stock options to senior executives have an exercise prices based on measurable criteria of performance. That resolution gained about 17 percent of voted shares.
Rich Gelber, secretary-treasurer of NABET-CWA Local 51016 and a NABET regional vice president, presented the resolution and noted that Disney's five top corporate officers exercised stock options worth more than $721 million between 1997 and 2001. CEO Michael Eisner alone exercised more than $680 million in the same period. Meanwhile, the price of company stock dropped 14.7 percent.
Tying stock option grants to specific performance goals would better serve stockholders, CWA said.
Other resolutions supported by CWA but not adopted by shareholders called for fair labor conditions for the manufacture of Disney products in China, better reporting on theme park safety and a special executive compensation review.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner justified his and other executives' multimillion-dollar bonuses, stating, "our management and talent are constantly being offered opportunities elsewhere. We feel it's important to keep our management team together."
NABET-CWA is negotiating with Disney/ABC for a new contract covering 5,000 ABC workers nationwide. The current contract expires March 31.
The CWA-sponsored resolution called on the board of directors to adopt an executive compensation policy requiring that future grants of stock options to senior executives have an exercise prices based on measurable criteria of performance. That resolution gained about 17 percent of voted shares.
Rich Gelber, secretary-treasurer of NABET-CWA Local 51016 and a NABET regional vice president, presented the resolution and noted that Disney's five top corporate officers exercised stock options worth more than $721 million between 1997 and 2001. CEO Michael Eisner alone exercised more than $680 million in the same period. Meanwhile, the price of company stock dropped 14.7 percent.
Tying stock option grants to specific performance goals would better serve stockholders, CWA said.
Other resolutions supported by CWA but not adopted by shareholders called for fair labor conditions for the manufacture of Disney products in China, better reporting on theme park safety and a special executive compensation review.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner justified his and other executives' multimillion-dollar bonuses, stating, "our management and talent are constantly being offered opportunities elsewhere. We feel it's important to keep our management team together."