Issue No 119 | 16 November 2001 | |
NewsSTOP PRESS: No Democracy at Telstra AGM
Australia's largest public company has been urged to cease "riding roughshod" over workers and shareholders. CPSU national secretary, Wendy Caird, made the call after returning from today's Telstra AGM at Sydney's Darling Harbour Convention Centre. Features of the meeting were confirmation of a record $4.1 billion profit and further job losses, on top of the 35,000 since 1996. But Ms Caird said the most glaring feature of the AGM had been the top-table's "complete disregard" for ordinary shareholders. "If I tried to run a meeting of Telstra workers like that, they would have my guts for garters and rightly so," Ms Caird said. During the meeting, company chairman Bob Mansfield had prevented questioning of directors prior to voting on their positions; over-ridden procedural motions from rank and file stock holders; and refused to entertain a number of questions from the floor. Some of the ignored questions related to director and executive salaries, staff cuts and Asian investments. Management did, however, reveal that executives who had failed to achieve targets would still be paid bonuses. "Before the Tony Abbotts of this world ever lecture unions on democracy again they should attend a Telstra AGM," she advised. "We couldn't get away with it. Even if we wanted to our members wouldn't allow it."
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Interview: Out of the Rubble Michael Costa argues that Saturday's election result could have been much, much worse. Unions: Sixty-Forty Are Good Odds! John Robertson argues that while there may be many problems with the ALP, union power is not one of them. Politics: Wrong Way, Go Back Labor's failure in the federal election is the result of more than bad luck. It is the result of a shift to populism that has left the Party bereft of core principles. Campaign Diary: Week Five: All Washed Up If you can stand it, relive the fatefull final week of a most remarkable election campaign. International: Trade Piracy Unmasked As the trade barons met in Qatar to chart out their agenda, George Monbiot looks at the machinations behind the scenes. Factions: The Party's Over Chris Christodoulou renews his call for a breakdown of the factional system to bring new life into the ALP History: The Fall-Out Neale Towart looks back to Labor's reaction to its loss in the 1954 'Petrov election' and finds warnings for today's post mortem. Media: Elite Defeat Rowan Cahill looks at the intellectual paucity in the PM's ongoing attacks on 'elite opinion'. Satire: Crean 'Listens To Australian People': Will Sink Refugee Boats Simon Crean, the most likely candidate to replace Kim Beazley as Labor's leader, says he will take heed of the message sent to the ALP by Australian voters at the Federal Election.
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