Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Shareholders' Rights On Agenda For CII Watchdogs
The Council of Institutional Investors, co-chaired by CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, is applauding the Securities and Exchange Commission for taking a step toward giving shareholders more voice in who sits on corporate boards and represents their interests.
The measure involves giving shareholders new access to management's proxy card to nominate potential directors. Presently, shareholders have to launch costly and complicated proxy fights to get their candidates on the ballot.
"The commission's efforts in this area represent one of the most important reforms proposed since the collapse of Enron and the fallout from numerous other extraordinary corporate scandals," CII said in a statement.
Still, Boarman said the measure needs to be strengthened and CII will be filing comments with the SEC to that effect. As currently proposed, shareholders wanting to place a candidate on a proxy ballot would have to wait a year or more, among other problems.
"Shareholders would still have to overcome various barriers before they could exercise their rights to elect directors at annual meetings," said Boarman, head of CWA's Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector. "We want to remove as many barriers as possible."
CII, an association of 130 public, corporate and union pension funds with more than $3 trillion in investments, was one of the first groups to offer solutions after the scandalous failures of Enron and WorldCom cost workers and retirees more than $2 billion in pension fund losses. CII worked with key members of Congress to help design the Sarbanes-Oxley law establishing reforms in administration and reporting requirements for corporate retirement savings plans.
By monitoring corporate performance and government policies, union leaders and pension activists are continuing to work to safeguard the $6 trillion in assets controlled by worker pension funds. "Our work as stewards of worker's retirement funds often goes unnoticed by the mainstream media because it's too complex to report in sound bites," Boarman said.
Currently, Congress is considering a number of pension issues, including proposals to allow companies to adjust interest rate projections on employer-paid pension plans.
Beyond acting as watchdogs on pension legislation, CII helps leverage the combined power of worker pension funds to influence the policies of companies they invest in, Boarman said.
Over the years, the success rate for CII-supported shareholder resolutions has increased dramatically. This year, CII-member funds submitted about 350 resolutions. More than 50 received majority votes and at least another 30 were adopted by corporate boards in order to avoid a vote. By contrast, in 1998, only 23 resolutions received majority votes.
The measure involves giving shareholders new access to management's proxy card to nominate potential directors. Presently, shareholders have to launch costly and complicated proxy fights to get their candidates on the ballot.
"The commission's efforts in this area represent one of the most important reforms proposed since the collapse of Enron and the fallout from numerous other extraordinary corporate scandals," CII said in a statement.
Still, Boarman said the measure needs to be strengthened and CII will be filing comments with the SEC to that effect. As currently proposed, shareholders wanting to place a candidate on a proxy ballot would have to wait a year or more, among other problems.
"Shareholders would still have to overcome various barriers before they could exercise their rights to elect directors at annual meetings," said Boarman, head of CWA's Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector. "We want to remove as many barriers as possible."
CII, an association of 130 public, corporate and union pension funds with more than $3 trillion in investments, was one of the first groups to offer solutions after the scandalous failures of Enron and WorldCom cost workers and retirees more than $2 billion in pension fund losses. CII worked with key members of Congress to help design the Sarbanes-Oxley law establishing reforms in administration and reporting requirements for corporate retirement savings plans.
By monitoring corporate performance and government policies, union leaders and pension activists are continuing to work to safeguard the $6 trillion in assets controlled by worker pension funds. "Our work as stewards of worker's retirement funds often goes unnoticed by the mainstream media because it's too complex to report in sound bites," Boarman said.
Currently, Congress is considering a number of pension issues, including proposals to allow companies to adjust interest rate projections on employer-paid pension plans.
Beyond acting as watchdogs on pension legislation, CII helps leverage the combined power of worker pension funds to influence the policies of companies they invest in, Boarman said.
Over the years, the success rate for CII-supported shareholder resolutions has increased dramatically. This year, CII-member funds submitted about 350 resolutions. More than 50 received majority votes and at least another 30 were adopted by corporate boards in order to avoid a vote. By contrast, in 1998, only 23 resolutions received majority votes.