iMail archives

feedback

visit goiam.org

print version

iMail signup

Tuesday,  February 4, 2003


Unions Win Mutual Fund Fight
Labor unions and shareholder rights’ advocates scored a major victory last week when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled mutual fund managers must disclose how they vote on management and shareholder resolutions.

Unions led the effort to highlight the voting habits of large mutual funds, which often side with management, rubberstamping everything from dubious acquisition schemes and board appointments to runaway executive compensation.

“This decision makes mutual funds accountable for how they vote on behalf of their investors, including employee-investors,” said IP Tom Buffenbarger. “You can bet former Enron auditor Frank Savage would not be on Lockheed’s board of directors today if fund managers were required to publicly disclose how they voted on his outrageous nomination.”

The SEC received more than 7,000 comment letters on the proposed rule, more than any other in the agency’s history. “The claim by fund managers that individual investors don’t care how their fund votes was literally blown out of the water,” said Buffenbarger. “The SEC made the right decision to give investors and employees the ability to better evaluate where to place their hard-earned money.” 

MNPL Planners Outline Political Agenda
Delegates to the 2003 MNPL National Planning Committee session began crafting strategies designed to help working families and their allies increase their political power as the nation faces serious challenges both at home and abroad.

Meeting in Monterey, CA, delegates and guests began their deliberations with a moment of silence honoring the brave astronauts who perished in the space shuttle tragedy. In his keynote address, IP Tom Buffenbarger reminded his audience that IAM members were deeply affected by that tragedy.

“Our members in the aerospace industry take great pride in the contributions their skilled hands make to space exploration. That pride is matched by that of our members at the Cape who help launch, and recover these spacecraft,” he said. “We are family, and those who died in that disaster are family, too”

Buffenbarger’s speech outlined the problems facing working men and women as the nation teeters on the brink of war, with an economy mired deeply in the Bush recession.

“We cannot sit on the sidelines,” he said. “It’s no longer business as usual. It’s time for us to take back our rights. Take back our government. Take back our White House. Let’s reclaim America.” 

Maytag Inducted Into
Corporate ‘Hall of Shame’
The Illinois-based Campaign for Corporate Responsibility named Mexico-bound Maytag to its Corporate Hall of Shame for the decision to move refrigerator production from Galesburg, IL to low-wage Reynosa, Mexico.

Sharing the disgrace with Maytag was Wal-Mart, Motorola and Abbott Laboratories for their abuse of the public interest while receiving substantial tax breaks and subsidies.

“Maytag received $10 million in state grants and local tax abatements to retool its Galesburg plant less than a decade ago,” said GLR Cristina Munoz. “Last year it made almost $200 million in profits and its CEO earned nearly $4 million in salary and stock compensation. Yet the company chose to shut the plant, lay off 1,600 workers and walk away from the community and workers that made it profitable.”

Wal-Mart earned a $6 million windfall for collecting state sales taxes while paying its workers an average of only $7.50 an hour.  Abbott Laboratories benefited from a similar tax break while laying off hundreds of Illinois workers. 

Boeing Hedges on Jet Construction Site
The Boeing Company will not say if its next-generation 7E7 jet will be built in the U.S. or elsewhere. “There has been no decision on where it will be built,” said Boeing spokesperson Tom Brabant last week.

“It’s absolutely crucial that Boeing build the 7E7 here,” said Mark Blondin, president of IAM District 751. “We have the skill set here in Seattle and the Puget Sound area to do the best and most efficient job.”

Blondin said workers at Boeing plants in Everett, Auburn, Fredrickson and Renton could handle everything from fabricating airplane components to final assembly.

Computer generated views of the 7E7 show a 250 seat, twin-engine aircraft with a range of 9,000 miles. It features fuel savings of 15 to 20 percent over current aircraft and is expected to enter service in 2008. The new plane takes the place of Boeing’s proposed sonic cruiser, shelved last year after much debate. 

DNC Chair Sees Opportunities
A key Democratic operative admitted his party fell below expectations in the last election for a very simple reason: “We didn’t have a message,” said Terry McAuliffe, who chairs the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

“We need Democrats who will fight for Democratic ideals and for Democratic issues,” said McAuliffe. “When Democrats try to run on a “Bush Lite” program, we lose.”

The party is rebuilding its base by cleaning up outdated computer files, upgrading its computers system and breaking ground for a new office building in the nation’s capital.

Getting the party back to grassroots organizing is crucial, he explained. “That’s where elections are won and lost.” McAuliffe said the Democratic Party “must be there for you” on a host of issues ranging from fair trade to health care, from workplace safety to retirement security.