Taking a Stand at GE and IBM

Shareholder resolutions are another way that workers, as stockholders, can get management’s attention, and CWA members will be backing proposals at both the General Electric Co. and IBM Corp. meetings this month.

CWA members who hold GE stock can make sure that management gets the word on three important resolutions now on the agenda for the April 26 GE shareholders meeting, to be held in Richmond, Va.

The 14-member Coordinated Bargaining Committee is urging GE shareholders to support all three resolutions and to return their proxy ballots to the company as soon as possible. NABET-CWA members who work for the GE-owned NBC television network will be among those attending the shareholders meeting.

Proposal 2 requires GE to adopt and enforce a workplace code of conduct based on internationally recognized labor rights; Proposal 3 requires GE to evaluate how the company’s reputation is being harmed by its globalization strategy; and Proposal 9 calls on GE’s board of directors to refrain from increasing the pensions of non-employees.

Proposal 9 is especially timely, the CBC notes, because the annual pension given to board members was increased to $75,000, based on five years’ service. In contrast, longtime retirees earn annual pensions of around $6,000, and have seen the value of their pensions drop by 45 percent or more.

The IBM meeting is set for April 25 in Cleveland, and CWA and Alliance@IBM members will be out in full force. Under consideration will be a resolution directing the board to provide all employees with the same retirement, medical insurance and pension choice as employees who are within five years of retirement. The resolution also requires that the cash balance plan provide a monthly annuity equal to that of the old pension plan.

Any proposal that receives at least 3 percent of the votes cast can be submitted the following year for another vote.