For the fourth year in a row, the so-called 'say on pay' proposal to give AT&T shareholders advisory approval for executive compensation failed to be passed.
Similar to the results in 2009, this year's 'say on pay' vote also fell short of approval by a close voting margin. This year, the results had 53.4 percent voting against with 46.6 percent supporting the measure. In 2009, 53 percent voted against with 47 percent in favor of the measure. In 2008, 56 percent were voting against.
AT&T is not the only telco that's trying to institute a 'say on pay' measure, nor the only one to have such a measure rejected by shareholders. Verizon, which has had an advisory vote on CEO compensation around 2007, will be voting on this measure at its company meeting in Little Rock, Ark. on Thursday. One group that wants to see a 'say on pay' measure passed is the Association of BellTell Retirees. The group is asking shareholders to support a proxy proposal on how executive performance stock units are rewarded.
Rejecting 'say on pay' measures seems to be a common trend in the U.S. ILEC industry. Efforts to institute 'say on pay' measures have also failed to catch on in the large independent ILEC community as well. Both Frontier and Windstream, two of the largest independent ILECs, also both narrowly rejected 'say on pay' measures last year.
For more:
- Connected Planet has this article
Related articles:
Frontier shareholders narrowly reject 'say-on-pay' proposal
Windstream shareholder vote no to 'say-on-pay' issue
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