Shareholder activism has been gaining ground, with the number of resolutions coming to vote increasing by almost 20 percent from 1997-1998. Some of the important votes in 1998 were:
<> After two years of pressure, Sara Lee withdrew from the tobacco business.
<> Anheuser Bush, GTE and Phillip Morris pledged to halt use of racist stereotypes in advertising, ending the use of the Cleveland Indian’s mascot “Chief Wahoo.”
<> Coca-Cola endorsed the CERES principles, which commit the company to improve environmental performance, produce environmental corporate reports and engage in dialogue with shareholders.
<> Ford agreed to implement the Macbride Principals on Northern Ireland.
Resolutions planned for 1999:
<> Human Rights: resolutions at Boeing and Allied Signal for adopting human rights criteria for doing business in China, and at Chevron, Sun and Texaco in Nigeria. Franklin Research & Development is hoping to stop Coca-Cola from doing business in Afghanistan due to tremendous problems there.
<> Labor: Chrysler, Ford, GM, Johnson & Johnson, and Allied Signal will be asked to adopt global labor standards for their factories and suppliers.
<> Environment: Exxon, Amoco, Texaco, Chevron, Ford, GM, Southern Company, and Reynolds Metal will be asked to report on the emission of greenhouse gases from their products and plants, and to report what they are doing about it.
<> Environment: Investors in Georgia Pacific and Weyerhauser will ask these wood- pulp giants to phase out the use of chlorine-based compounds in paper production.
<> Environment: General Electric will be pressured to clean up PCBs in the Hudson River.
<> Environment: a resolution against Dupont seeks to prevent the company from mining titanium dioxide in the Okefenokee swamp.
Most resolutions do not have to succeed through votes but, more commonly, by negotiations. In fact, most resolutions pass behind closed boardroom doors. Simon Billenness, the senior analyst at Franklin Research & Development – a social investment firm that was the first to file a resolution against Wal-Mart and its operations in Burma – says shareholder success comes with dialogue within the company, sometimes by negotiating with company representatives and sometimes by instituting major policy changes.
“I would advise shareholders to work with others who share your views,” he says. “Shareholders are much more effective when working in a coalition than on their own.”
FROM Co-op America Quarterly
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