SHARE POWER Campaign – Stock Ownership/Employee Connection
Making the stock ownership/employee connection...
As we have pointed out, all members of the public have a right to contact a company directly, in addition to pressuring them indirectly through their connection to shareholders. Of course if you are a shareholder yourself – that is, if you own stock in Chevron Corporation (CVX) or Dow Chemical (DOW) - the direct approach is your most powerful tool! When you own stock, you are in fact part owner of that company, and that vests you with certain rights, and certain power.
The employees of companies like Chevron (CVX) and Dow Chemical (DOW), their subsidiaries and affiliates, also have a direct connection, and without a doubt they are powerful players in influencing how a company operates. Let us stress here that SHARE POWER is not about demonizing companies with human rights concerns, nor is it about demonizing the employees who work there, or the investors who buy the company’s stock. There is no such thing as a perfect company. Likewise, there is no such thing as a company that is doing everything wrong. SHARE POWER is about using the power vested in our connections to encourage companies to IMPROVE. As an employee, you have special leverage with the company you work for, but you may also bear certain risks by confronting your employer with concerns you have about their policies or operations. In such a case, it is up to you to make the judgment about whether or how to raise those concerns.
What can you do with your stock owner connection?
When companies are facing social and environmental challenges, stock owners in those companies can use shareholder activism to harness their substantial weight as an investor to support important causes and to defend human rights. How? In addition to raising issues directly with the companies they are invested in, owning stock in a company creates opportunities for them to initiate or file proposals on issues they are concerned about, either alone or in coalition with other investors. These are commonly known as shareholder proposals or resolutions. The current rules for filing shareholder proposals require ownership of at least $2,000 market value worth of a particular stock, held for at least one year. However, even if you do not file proposals yourself, and no matter how much stock you own (even just one share!), stockholders have the right and responsibility to vote on a variety of proposals each year, some of them focused on social and environmental issues, as well as governance issues. Owning stock also gives you the right to attend the annual meeting and ask a question directly of the CEO or Chairman of the Board. If you are unable to attend the meeting, or if you want to provide an opportunity for another individual or group to be heard, you can allow someone to go in your place.Shareholder Activism on Chevron Corporation (CVX) and Dow Chemical Company (DOW)
Since 2004, Amnesty International USA, along with other socially responsible investors that include the two largest pension funds in the US, has engaged in shareholder activism to demand accountability for the people suffering in Ecuador’s Amazon. At the 2005 shareholder meeting, AI USA co-filed a proposal to Chevron’s Board of directors regarding this issue. The proposal received enough votes to be re-filed again this year.Concerned shareholders also filed a proposal with Dow Chemical (DOW), calling for disclosure of financial impacts related to the Bhopal chemical disaster. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) allowed Dow Chemical (DOW) to exclude the proposal from the 2005 voting ballot, severely limiting the ability of investors to seek information on these liabilities. However, Amnesty will join coalition partners in filing a new version of this proposal this year.
A key component of the SHARE POWER Campaign will be to encourage shareholders to vote favorably on these proposals at the 2006 annual shareholder meetings, ensuring that the companies take their demands seriously.
What can you do to support SHARE POWER?
There are many ways that you can use your shareholder power in a positive way to help support the SHARE POWER Campaign:- First and foremost, you should vote favorably on existing socially and environmentally conscious shareholder proposals (such as the ones on Ecuador and Bhopal, mentioned above. Note, a shareholder resolution is likely to be filed with Yahoo this year).
- In addition to voting, you can make a difference by publicly supporting these and similar shareholder proposals. Work with other concerned shareholders such as Amnesty in their efforts to educate more shareholders about the proposals we have filed, and help increase publicity for the proposals by lending your support to press outreach, placing an op-ed, etc..
- If you own the necessary amount of shares, consider filing or co-filing socially or environmentally conscious proposals.
- Send direct letters to the leadership of Dow Chemical (DOW), Chevron (CVX), and Yahoo (YHOO) and help gather signatures on additional letters and petitions.
- Join Amnesty activists across the country who are educating the public about the human rights abuses connected to companies in Bhopal, Ecuador's Amazon, and China.
