Wal-Mart’s Typical Response to Shareholder Resolutions

Are the proxy votes public information?

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Don’t pick on Walmart (especially). This week the Rockefeller family (whose ancestor John D. founded Standard Oil) tried to get some resolutions passed at the Exxon (successor company) annual meeting.

The most modest one was to split the jobs of CEO and chairman of the board. It lost by a large margin. Those raking in the profits don’t want to do anything to rock the boat (or is it kill the goose that lays the golden egg?).

It is extremely rare for a stockholder resolution to pass, and even when it does most boards consider it “advisory” and often ignore it.

What makes Walmart almost unique is that the founding family still owns a controlling interest which means that all stockholder motions will always fail. Those who propose them know this and all they are trying to do is get some publicity for their causes. This is the last thing that the Walton’s will permit at an open meeting.

It’s all a charade and yet another demonstration of the reality that outside stockholders have no say in how the companies they “own” are run. I’m afraid even Marx couldn’t foresee this outcome. He thought the owners would be the managers.

Now companies are run for the benefit of the managers who jump (with their golden parachutes) at the first sign of trouble. This is an unstable system of governance as the meltdown in the banking system is currently demonstrating.

Things are (slightly) better elsewhere. For example, in Germany labor unions are guaranteed representation on the board of directors of big firms.

I could be wrong, but I believe you only need to own one share of stock in order to have a resolution.  If this is the case chances are this is some antiWalmart idiot who just bought a share or two in order to make a spectacle and try to embarass the company.  Judging by the cheer that was given when they quickly moved on from the resolution, I’m going to have to say that even if the Waltons’ and all the execs votes were taken out this resolution still wouldn’t have passed.

I could be wrong, but I believe you only need to own one share of stock in order to have a resolution.  If this is the case chances are this is some antiWalmart idiot who just bought a share or two in order to make a spectacle and try to embarass the company.

You got that right, Dave—did you know most of the “antis” who post here are actually shareholders??

bbrd: On what basis do you present that statement as fact?

ddrb,

If you own any mutual funds or a 401K or an IRA, it is very likely, they hold Wal-Mart shares!!

RDS:  Your comment ,:IF you own"… “Very likely” ,implies possibility. bbrd’s comment was a statement of FACTUAL knowledge that most antis owned WalMart stock, there was no mention of possiblity or probabilty...i.e.,."did you know most of the “antis” who post here are actually shareholders?? “-----Where does bbrd get this factual information about ANYONE here,or their holdings?

On what basis do you present that statement as fact?

Actually two, * :

1.  It was Mr. Screwed, himself who claimed ownership of a single share of WMT, just for that purpose.

2.  Also, how else do you think WMW gains access to “cover” the annual Shareholders Meeting?

And those are just the ones we have knowledge of…

...we have knowledge of…

Now that’s funny.

Dazzle ‘em with your bullshit, huh, bbrd?

The U.S. has anywhere from 3 million to 4 million ex-convicts, a number that is also growing rapidly. As Wal-Mart provides hundreds of thousands of low-wage, low-skill jobs, the two populations--ex-convicts and prospective Wal-Mart employees--will inevitably intersect in large numbers. ~ BARBARA EHRENREICH

“2.  Also, how else do you think WMW gains access to “cover” the annual Shareholders Meeting?
And those are just the ones we have knowledge of…"~bbrd in

All corporations own stock in their competitors so they have direct shareholder information.  What rock have you folks been living under? It’s not a big deal if some person or other group owns stock in Walmart. I’ll bet you Walmart has stock in Target and all their competitors in your country.

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

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T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

“All corporations own stock in their competitors so they have direct shareholder information.”

What does WMW sell that makes them a competitor of Walmart?

GENERAL AFFIDAVIT

State of Texas

BEFORE ME, on this _30th_ day of _May_, 2008, personally appeared _Ken V_, known to me to be a credible person and of lawful age, who being by me first duly sworn, on _his_ oath, deposes and says:

I do not now, nor have I ever owned any Wal-Mart stock!

issues:walmart company eligibity policies;I dispute some entitlements,benefits,and promotion policies etc. I am US citizen and english speaking,but had a child born in a foreign country. US/american FMLA is US policies ,only for american citizens,and some US terrories and/or possessions. When did the american government change FMLA,life insurane policies to include non-americans ? This maybe un-american. Please clarity,BJBrewer

What does WMW sell that makes them a competitor of Walmart?~Dave in

Ethics.

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

If you want to watch the stock meeting ,it was on their web site last year anyway. Entire / don’t ask me.

“What does WMW sell that makes them a competitor of Walmart?~Dave in

Ethics.”

Now that’s a good laugh.  Are you that niave Alex.

“What does WMW sell that makes them a competitor of Walmart?~Dave in

Ethics”

So WMW is willing to sell out on their ethics? (assuming they have any).  I guess that is true since for a $30+ a week donation from all of Walmart’s employees they would be more than happy to stop all the negative press.

Alex,

“What does WMW sell that makes them a competitor of Walmart?~Dave in

Ethics”

Where are the ‘Ethics’ in ‘Extorting’ things from a business, by saying “Either give us what we want, or we’ll put you out of business”?

If you want to watch the stock meeting ,it was on their web site last year anyway.

And, of course, we’ll get the WMW play-by-play, right here—sarcastic spin, and all!

Well then way don’t you just watch it and see, if it’s on.

“Dazzle ‘em with your bullshit, huh, bbrd?

This should keep you going all weekend!  Produce the statement I alledgedly made about owning “a single share of WMT” stock, or shut the hell up!

“Where are the ‘Ethics’ in ‘Extorting’ things from a business, by saying “Either give us what we want, or we’ll put you out of business”?~RDS in

Hey Bob(RDS)
Did you take that from the model of the Walmart/Supplier relationship?

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Alex,

“Did you take that from the model of the Walmart/Supplier relationship?”

No, I got that from the UNION playbook, it says, “If you can’t get what you want from an employer, GO ON STRIKE, until you either make the emmployer cry UNCLE and give in, or go out of business, and remember, only the business and employees can get hurt from a strike, the union suffers nothing”!!

Problem is, sometimes the company closes down the business and the union’s ‘rank and file’ lose their jobs, or like the California Grocery workers who went on STRIKE for 5 months and ended up with a 3 year contract that was LESS that they started with, before they went on strike!!

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of the FORMER Walmart Union Employees

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of the FORMER Walmart Union Meat Cutters

“Problem is, sometimes the company closes down the business and the union’s ‘rank and file’ lose their jobs, or like the California Grocery workers who went on STRIKE for 5 months and ended up with a 3 year contract that was LESS that they started with, before they went on strike!!"~Bob(RDS)

So Bob(RDS), how do the Walmart workers fair?

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

or shut the hell up!

I’m afraid your fondest wishes (like the demise of WM) won’t come quite that easy, Mr. Screwed…

Dave

“I guess that is true since for a $30+ a week donation from all of Walmart’s employees they would be more than happy to stop all the negative press.”

Where do you come up with dues that are $129.00 per month? I would wager from your ass, but that’s just an educated guess on my part.

I am a union member and I earn in excess of 80k and my dues are less than $40.00 per month. So what makes you think that the dues of WM employees would be over 3X what I pay?

You really should stick to something that you know something about, like mucking out stalls. If you are going to shovel shit you should do it there.

Big D,

“I am a union member and I earn in excess of 80k and my dues are less than $40.00 per month.”

You must be in an exceptional union, because $40.00 a month, would equal about 1 hours pay a month, that is much less than MOST unions charge!! ($80,000.00 divided by 2080 = $38.46 per hour)!!

(like the demise of WM)

You may be right, bbrd, but in the meantime it sure is fun watching the Bentonvillians try to decide if they are arrogant or stupid. Why agonize over it, Wal-Mart? You can be both!

“Our size causes us, when we do something inappropriate, which is usually done out of stupidity, to come across as being done out of arrogance.” ~ H. Lee Scott

If you are going to shovel shit you should do it there.

You mean like when you’re playing stock watcher??

You must be in an exceptional union, because $40.00 a month, would equal about 1 hours pay a month, that is much less than MOST unions charge!! ($80,000.00 divided by 2080 = $38.46 per hour)!!

RDS, according to the UFCW Local 324 website (Greater Los Angeles area), union dues are roughly $8.50 per week.

Now, while that doesn’t sound like a whole lot to most of us, it can make or break the budget of someone working part-time.

Or, as “whathappenskimo” said on Yahoo!, last year…

they just like vampire since i only work as part time. i feel like the union are the one who take labor’s money....

Furthermore, RDS…

Let’s do a little math -

$8.50 per employee, per week times 1.6 million WM associates (give or take) equals a rough take of $13.6 million, per week.

$13.6 million times 52 weeks equals a staggering annual potential of $707.2 million for the UFCW coffers, which makes Lee Scott’s annual salary look like “chump change”.

No wonder these guys are constantly hammering at Wal-Mart, and anyone else who stands-up against them…

“Problem is, sometimes the company closes down the business and the union’s ‘rank and file’ lose their jobs, or like the California Grocery workers who went on STRIKE for 5 months and ended up with a 3 year contract that was LESS that they started with, before they went on strike!!"~Bob(RDS)

So Bob(RDS), how do the Walmart workers fair?

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Alex,

“So Bob(RDS), how do the Walmart workers fair?”

Let’s see, they get to keep their jobs, get paychecks every two weeks, don’t have to pay union dues and get benefits!! 

Remember, according to LAW, all Wal-Mart HAS to do, is pay minimum wage, so everything above that, are extras that Wal-Mart chooses to give their workers!!

“Remember, according to LAW, all Wal-Mart HAS to do, is pay minimum wage, so everything above that, are extras that Wal-Mart chooses to give their workers!!"~RDS in

Possibly why Walmart doesn’t want unions? Employee’s would have a say in their workplace?
The facts are that workers have a third option (within the law) and that is collective bargaining. Walmarts ‘take it or leave it’ behaviour will only be tolerated for so long. It is just a matter of time. Workers will have a say.

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Alex,

“The facts are that workers have a third option (within the law) and that is collective bargaining.”

You mean like the Califonia Grocery Workers did?  Don’t forget, things can go DOWN, not just UP, just ask a GM or FORD worker!!

“Walmarts ‘take it or leave it’ behaviour will only be tolerated for so long”

You mean like the union’s ‘take it or leave it’ behavior?

Why are you afraid to tell us what union YOU belong to?  Could it be that you are NON-UNION?

...Lee Scott’s annual salary look like “chump change”.

You’ll notice the use of the word “salary”. Scott’s salary is chump change. It’s all the stock options and bonuses that push him into the obscene realm.