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IBMers Stress Accountability at Annual Meeting
Members of CWA Local 1701, Alliance@IBM, voiced the concerns of thousands of workers and shareholders at the IBM Corp., annual meeting in Charleston, S.C.
About a dozen Alliance members attended the meeting, seeking shareholder support on resolutions to improve corporate governance and accountability.
In the question and answer session, which this year was restored to the main meeting agenda, Linda Guyer, president of CWA Local 1701, asked IBM chief executive officer Sam Palmisano whether he would return any of his 2004 compensation because of the company's lagging performance. Palmisano rejected that suggestion but said that top executives will forgo salary and bonus increases in 2005 until performance improves.
IBM employees continue to face many critical issues, including the loss of jobs due to the company's increased focus on offshoring. Alliance@IBM has been fighting to improve accountability at the company and to keep quality jobs, said Lee Conrad, national coordinator for Alliance.
Alliance members also spoke in support of several shareholder resolutions. A resolution directing that senior executives be compensated based on their actual performance, not additional earnings generated by "pension income," gained 38.1 percent of voted shares.
Another calling for full and transparent disclosure of all compensation issued gained 17.5 percent, one seeking to end age discrimination in retirement policies gained 13.27 percent and a resolution calling for an investigation into the potential damage of the company's offshoring initiatives gained 9.5 percent of voted shares.
The Alliance-backed resolution on the expensing of stock options was withdrawn with the company's earlier establishment of this policy.
About a dozen Alliance members attended the meeting, seeking shareholder support on resolutions to improve corporate governance and accountability.
In the question and answer session, which this year was restored to the main meeting agenda, Linda Guyer, president of CWA Local 1701, asked IBM chief executive officer Sam Palmisano whether he would return any of his 2004 compensation because of the company's lagging performance. Palmisano rejected that suggestion but said that top executives will forgo salary and bonus increases in 2005 until performance improves.
IBM employees continue to face many critical issues, including the loss of jobs due to the company's increased focus on offshoring. Alliance@IBM has been fighting to improve accountability at the company and to keep quality jobs, said Lee Conrad, national coordinator for Alliance.
Alliance members also spoke in support of several shareholder resolutions. A resolution directing that senior executives be compensated based on their actual performance, not additional earnings generated by "pension income," gained 38.1 percent of voted shares.
Another calling for full and transparent disclosure of all compensation issued gained 17.5 percent, one seeking to end age discrimination in retirement policies gained 13.27 percent and a resolution calling for an investigation into the potential damage of the company's offshoring initiatives gained 9.5 percent of voted shares.
The Alliance-backed resolution on the expensing of stock options was withdrawn with the company's earlier establishment of this policy.