For Immediate Release
Friday, July 14, 2000
AFSCME Staff Retirement Plan Completes Successful First Proxy Season
Washington, D.C. —Gerald W. McEntee, chairman of the Employees Pension Plan of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), today declared the plan's first season of shareholder activism a success. The Pension Plan, established to provide retirement benefits for AFSCME staff, submitted corporate governance proposals to five corporations which were voted on at annual meetings during May and June. Three of the five proposals received majority support:
| Mattel, Inc.: | Redeem or Vote Poison Pill | 65% For |
| Baxter International: | Declassify Board of Directors | 60% For |
| Great Lakes Chemical: | Declassify Board of Directors | 54% For |
| Bank of New York: | Redeem or Vote Poison Pill | 46% For |
| Conseco, Inc.: | Declassify Board of Directors | 40% For |
"Our first year of shareholder activism has been a success," said McEntee, who is also president of AFSCME, a 1.3 million-member public service union and the largest labor organization in the AFL-CIO. "Three of our proposals received substantial support from shareholders, the first step towards effecting real governance reform. We believe the large vote counts will force companies to rethink their stance on governance issues. Historically, Mattel, Great Lakes Chemical and Baxter International have resisted calls for reform. It is our hope that this summer we can meet with each of these companies to discuss strategies for their compliance with the clearly stated wishes of their shareholders," McEntee said.
According to McEntee, "Our activism is unique because its benefits extend to most ASFCME members. This year the Plan's proposals were presented to companies with stock owned by numerous public employee pension plans. Because of this, our activism will benefit staff plan participants and the thousands of our members whose pensions are provided by public employee retirement plans."
Funds maintained for the retirement benefits of AFSCME members total over $1 trillion in assets. AFSCME members and representatives are trustees on the boards of some of the largest of these funds, including the California Public Employee Retirement System (CALPERS) and the New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS).
AFSCME's shareholder program is coordinated by the union's Office of Corporate Affairs. Other elements of AFSCME's program include:
- Protecting the value of investments of the union's staff retirement fund and the solvency of public employee funds.
- Gaining trustee seats for employees at key funds where there is no employee representation. Currently 48 of the top 100 public employee pensions have no worker-elected trustees.
- Researching the impact of diversification into government services (a process called privatization) on the value of investment portfolios and the financial health of public employee plans.
- Engaging in an aggressive outreach and information-exchange program for trustees of public employee pension boards and assisting them as they increase their funds' activism on relevant reform matters.
