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Unions Talk with Comcast Shareholders
A contingent of union members from CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, joined by media reform advocates, took their fight for worker rights and good corporate governance to the Comcast Corp. annual meeting. They leafleted shareholders outside the meeting, then, as shareholders themselves, went inside to press for shareholder democracy.
Vince Maisano, former District 13 vice president who acts as special assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr, pressed Comcast to relinquish the super-majority rights of the Roberts family, and called on Roberts to support the call for shareholder democracy.
A proposal calling for a one-share, one-vote corporate structure received majority support among public shareholders, but couldn't withstand the weight of the Roberts' family super-majority, which gives CEO Brian Roberts control over a guaranteed one-third of total voting strength while holding only three percent of total equity.
The one-share, one-vote structure governs the overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies. Institutional Shareholder Services and major institutional investors and financial advisory firms supported the measure.
Among other proposals intended to restore good governance to Comcast: a call for an independent board of directors and separation of the positions of chairman and chief executive officer—both now held by Roberts. Another measure, presented by the IBEW, called on Comcast to end the poison pill provisions it adopted at the time of its merger with AT&T Broadband.
CWA and supporters also questioned why six of the company's top officers have employment contracts, yet workers are blocked in their efforts to bargain a fair contract or gain an independent voice on the job.
Joining the fight for worker rights and fairness at Comcast is a coalition of more than 100 religious leaders, from many different faiths. "From a moral and ethical perspective, as religious leaders, we are concerned that Comcast's employment practices do not responsibly address your employees' moral and legal right to freedom of association," the religious leaders wrote.
Vince Maisano, former District 13 vice president who acts as special assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr, pressed Comcast to relinquish the super-majority rights of the Roberts family, and called on Roberts to support the call for shareholder democracy.
A proposal calling for a one-share, one-vote corporate structure received majority support among public shareholders, but couldn't withstand the weight of the Roberts' family super-majority, which gives CEO Brian Roberts control over a guaranteed one-third of total voting strength while holding only three percent of total equity.
The one-share, one-vote structure governs the overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies. Institutional Shareholder Services and major institutional investors and financial advisory firms supported the measure.
Among other proposals intended to restore good governance to Comcast: a call for an independent board of directors and separation of the positions of chairman and chief executive officer—both now held by Roberts. Another measure, presented by the IBEW, called on Comcast to end the poison pill provisions it adopted at the time of its merger with AT&T Broadband.
CWA and supporters also questioned why six of the company's top officers have employment contracts, yet workers are blocked in their efforts to bargain a fair contract or gain an independent voice on the job.
Joining the fight for worker rights and fairness at Comcast is a coalition of more than 100 religious leaders, from many different faiths. "From a moral and ethical perspective, as religious leaders, we are concerned that Comcast's employment practices do not responsibly address your employees' moral and legal right to freedom of association," the religious leaders wrote.