Labor organizations urged Comcast shareholders Wed. to withhold s...
Labor organizations urged Comcast shareholders Wed. to withhold support from CEO Brian Roberts and dir. Decker Anstrom, former NCTA pres., at Comcast’s upcoming May 26 annual meeting. Roberts controls 1/3 of Comcast’s voting power despite holding about 1% of…
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shares, said the AFL-CIO, CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Also, Roberts has been chmn. of the nominating committee, which failed to nominate any additional independent directors for elections at this year’s annual meeting, the groups said. “Not surprisingly, when you have an executive picking directors, a lack of board independence results,” said AFL-CIO Secy.-Treas. Richard Trumka. The groups allege Anstrom’s firm, The Weather Channel, collected “tens of millions of dollars” in programming fees from Comcast when he chaired the compensation committee. Shareholders are to vote on a proposal, sponsored by the AFL- CIO, urging the board to adopt a policy of maintaining 2/3 membership by independent directors. Another proposal, backed by CWA, requests that the board restructure Comcast’s stock to provide one vote per share. A Comcast spokeswoman said all the issues raised by the group are addressed in the company’s proxy statement, available on the Comcast’s Web site.