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Article

13 Jun 2006

Author:
Kevin Kelleher, CorpWatch

A Proxy Battle: Shareholders vs. CEOs [USA]

The atmosphere...in Wilmington, Delaware, where Coca-Cola was holding its 2006 shareholder meeting...wasn’t the kind of festivity Coke ever asked for – or wanted...[H]undreds of corporate boards have spent the spring proxy season facing challenges of all kinds from shareholders. From human rights to the environment, to corporate governance, shareholders’ resolutions are garnering more and more votes each year, and corporations are being forced to deal with their gripes face on...Peri Payne...says it’s hard to measure the impact of the efforts of activist shareholders this year...Payne is cautiously optimistic that Coke will make serious attempts to address the situation in India, where four different rural communities charge that the company is depleting the local water table for its bottling operations...Corporate arrogance toward shareholder resolutions aren’t new...The Social Investment Forum estimated that the number of social and environmental resolutions in the first half of 2006 rose 7 percent to 180...And while the bulk of proposals are being rejected, they are serving an important purpose: jarring stonewalling companies into a dialog about social and governance issues. [also refers to Apple, Reynolds American, Hershey, Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Wal-Mart]