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Shareholders Join CWA in Call
Shareholders attending Comcast's annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 25 were met by a sea of red shirts as more than 100 District 13 members leafleted against undue control by one family that owns only 1 percent of company shares.
The members, of Pennsylvania Locals including 13000 and 13552, and Delaware Local 13101, followed District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano inside, where he made an eloquent case for responsible corporate governance. Local 13000 alone sent two busloads of supporters to the shareholder action.
"Comcast is not a family-owned company, and its charter must be changed to reflect this," Maisano argued. "Corporations should be as democratic as our country."
A significant number of shareholders agreed, with 31 percent of shares voted, (49.96 percent of shares excluding the one-third of votes controlled by the Roberts family) going for the principle of one share, one vote, advocated by the CWA Members' Relief Fund shareholder proposal.
"Comcast has a highly unusual dual class capital structure that gives Brian Roberts undue corporate control," Maisano told shareholders. "While Mr. Roberts owns only 1 percent of the company, the company charter guarantees him 33 percent voting power. This dilutes the voting power of the other 99 percent of us who own the company and bear the overwhelming majority of risk associated with ownership."
A similar "supervoting" provision in Adelphia's charter enabled the Rigas family to loot the company, Maisano pointed out.
CWA, IBEW and the AFL-CIO also urged shareholders to withhold votes for two director nominees and vote for one other stockholder proposal, seeking to increase the level of independence on the Comcast board of directors and its key committees and decrease the control that CEO Roberts exercises over the board. Pennsylvania state AFL-CIO President Bill George and others asked shareholders to withhold votes on the election of Roberts and of director nominee Decker Anstrom, chair of Comcast's executive compensation committee, who also serves on its audit and nominating committees and is CEO of the Weather Channel, a Comcast content provider.
Despite the union's efforts, shareholders elected Roberts as chairman of the board, replacing Michael Armstrong. Roberts now holds both the CEO and chairman's positions; Armstrong will remain a board member. They also reelected Anstrom and defeated a proposal by the Council of Institutional Investors to require that two-thirds of Comcast's directors be independent.
The members, of Pennsylvania Locals including 13000 and 13552, and Delaware Local 13101, followed District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano inside, where he made an eloquent case for responsible corporate governance. Local 13000 alone sent two busloads of supporters to the shareholder action.
"Comcast is not a family-owned company, and its charter must be changed to reflect this," Maisano argued. "Corporations should be as democratic as our country."
A significant number of shareholders agreed, with 31 percent of shares voted, (49.96 percent of shares excluding the one-third of votes controlled by the Roberts family) going for the principle of one share, one vote, advocated by the CWA Members' Relief Fund shareholder proposal.
"Comcast has a highly unusual dual class capital structure that gives Brian Roberts undue corporate control," Maisano told shareholders. "While Mr. Roberts owns only 1 percent of the company, the company charter guarantees him 33 percent voting power. This dilutes the voting power of the other 99 percent of us who own the company and bear the overwhelming majority of risk associated with ownership."
A similar "supervoting" provision in Adelphia's charter enabled the Rigas family to loot the company, Maisano pointed out.
CWA, IBEW and the AFL-CIO also urged shareholders to withhold votes for two director nominees and vote for one other stockholder proposal, seeking to increase the level of independence on the Comcast board of directors and its key committees and decrease the control that CEO Roberts exercises over the board. Pennsylvania state AFL-CIO President Bill George and others asked shareholders to withhold votes on the election of Roberts and of director nominee Decker Anstrom, chair of Comcast's executive compensation committee, who also serves on its audit and nominating committees and is CEO of the Weather Channel, a Comcast content provider.
Despite the union's efforts, shareholders elected Roberts as chairman of the board, replacing Michael Armstrong. Roberts now holds both the CEO and chairman's positions; Armstrong will remain a board member. They also reelected Anstrom and defeated a proposal by the Council of Institutional Investors to require that two-thirds of Comcast's directors be independent.