Chevron Shareholders Support Teamsters Country Selection Criteria Proposal
To: LABOR EDITORS
Contact: Galen Munroe of International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-6904, gmunroe@teamster.org
Shareholder Proposal Receives More Than 25 Percent of Vote
WASHINGTON, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Teamsters' proposal calling on Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to disclose the criteria it uses to start and end investments in high-risk countries received support from more than 25 percent of the shares cast at the company's annual meeting. The strong show of support at Chevron's shareholder meeting indicates growing investor concern around Chevron's controversial stake in Burma.
Through its equity in the Yadana gas-field and pipeline, Chevron plays a pivotal role in providing financial support to the Burmese military regime, notorious for its brutal repression of democracy and systematic violations of human rights. The Yadana project is reportedly the single largest source of income for the regime.
"We're pleased that other Chevron shareholders recognize the enormous legal, financial, political and reputational risks associated with operating in Burma and are demanding increased disclosure on how these decisions are made," said C. Thomas Keegel, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
"And in the case of Burma, this is not merely a matter of location," Keegel said. "The Burmese military junta is one of Chevron's partners in Yadana through its military-run oil company, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. That makes Chevron business partners with a pariah military regime that has brutally dominated the people of Burma and that has put a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest. What political risk assessments allowed this to happen?"
The Teamsters' proposal requests that Chevron disclose the standards it uses to assess high-risk countries like Burma for potential or continued investment. Chevron's current country selection criteria are opaque, and investors lack the information they need to evaluate Chevron's in-country risk oversight procedures and make informed choices regarding Chevron's governance.
Co-filers of the proposal include the AFL-CIO, Ms. Adelaide Gomer, The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Mercy Investment Program, Newground Social Investment, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk.
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
