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CWA Presses Pension Issue at Sprint Annual Meeting
CWA members demonstrated outside the Sprint Corp. annual meeting in Overland Park, Kans., on July 13 then pressed shareholders to adopt a proposal that would require shareholder approval for future extraordinary retirement benefits for senior executives.
About 40 CWAers, from Locals 3176, 3680, 3681, 3871, 4473, 4700, 6325, and 6372, along with AFL-CIO supporters, gained significant shareholder support for that proposal, introduced by the AFL-CIO, reported Robert Richhart, assistant to Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus.
Richhart outlined for shareholders the special credits, enhancements and supplemental benefits available to Sprint senior executives and pointed out that these costs increase the overall cost of the company's retirement plan to shareholders.
The granting of such benefits should take place only to support the interests of shareholders and should receive shareholder approval, he said. Further, "we believe these extraordinary pension benefits are unnecessary, given the high level of executive compensation" at Sprint, he added.
That proposal received 39 percent of votes cast.
Shareholders ok'd the proposed merger with Nextel Communications Inc., which still must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department and the 18 states in which the company operates local telephone service.
CWA, in its filings with the FCC and other regulators, has stressed that the merger should be approved contingent upon a fair distribution of the companies' debts and assets to the local telephone division at the time of its proposed spin off.
Currently, Sprint uses profits from its local division to support investment and pay expenses of its long distance and Internet division, CWA told the FCC, noting that the policy already has caused the deterioration of service to local customers.
CWA represents about 4,000 workers at Sprint local telephone operations.
About 40 CWAers, from Locals 3176, 3680, 3681, 3871, 4473, 4700, 6325, and 6372, along with AFL-CIO supporters, gained significant shareholder support for that proposal, introduced by the AFL-CIO, reported Robert Richhart, assistant to Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus.
Richhart outlined for shareholders the special credits, enhancements and supplemental benefits available to Sprint senior executives and pointed out that these costs increase the overall cost of the company's retirement plan to shareholders.
The granting of such benefits should take place only to support the interests of shareholders and should receive shareholder approval, he said. Further, "we believe these extraordinary pension benefits are unnecessary, given the high level of executive compensation" at Sprint, he added.
That proposal received 39 percent of votes cast.
Shareholders ok'd the proposed merger with Nextel Communications Inc., which still must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department and the 18 states in which the company operates local telephone service.
CWA, in its filings with the FCC and other regulators, has stressed that the merger should be approved contingent upon a fair distribution of the companies' debts and assets to the local telephone division at the time of its proposed spin off.
Currently, Sprint uses profits from its local division to support investment and pay expenses of its long distance and Internet division, CWA told the FCC, noting that the policy already has caused the deterioration of service to local customers.
CWA represents about 4,000 workers at Sprint local telephone operations.