MCKESSON CORP : McKesson Board Turns Blind Eye to Shareholders
10/30/2009| 12:55pm US/Eastern
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Teamster Proposal Seeking Investor Approval of 'Golden Coffins' Garnered 51 Percent of Votes Cast For or Against; Union Calls on Board to Stop Hiding Behind Technicalities and Follow Will of Investors
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a quarterly report released this week McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) said that a Teamsters General Fund shareholder proposal that was supported by 51.4 percent of the actual responding votes cast for or against was not approved at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on July 22, 2009.
The proposal, which sought shareholder approval of "golden coffin" agreements that provide payments or awards after a senior executive's death, did not reach the level required for approval because abstentions were counted as votes against in the final vote tally, explained the company.
"McKesson shareholders clearly support this common sense proposal, and the company should honor the shareholders' will and adopt it," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer C. Thomas Keegel. "The Board of Directors needs to accede to the will of its investors and not allow a voting technicality to defend egregious pay packages that go directly against pay-for-performance."
According to McKesson's 2009 proxy statement, the heirs of CEO John H. Hammergren would receive posthumous benefits estimated at $25 million to $39 million in the event of his death. These benefits do not include the estimated $79.7 million that his heirs would receive under the Executive Benefit Retirement Plan.
"Mr. Hammergren took home $29 million in total realized pay last year alone and has ample opportunities to provide for his estate. We believe shareholders should have a say in whether they're saddled with payments made without receiving any services in return, and clearly our fellow McKesson shareholders agree," Keegel said.
In the final vote tally, 107,598,016 votes were cast for the Teamsters' proposal, 101,659,126 votes were cast against, 6,066,692 votes abstained, and there were 23,724,672 broker non-votes. Broker non-votes had no effect on the vote results.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
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