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(March 29, 2007)
Proudly representing retirees from the new AT&T
Midwest Region, SBC Midwest Region,
Ameritech, as well as the five Bell Companies in
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
2007 AASBCR INITIATIVES
The following 3 initiatives are the AASBCR’s main focus
for 2007 – at least at this time. They have been posted to the AASBCR
web site (www.aasbcr.org).
Watch the web site for changes as the year unfolds.
01 Shareholder Proposal Initiative
TimeLine:
Apr 27, 2007 Shareholder Meeting in San Antonio, Texas
Apr 10, 2007 Shareholder vote proxies
Feb 20, 2007 SEC Rejects AT&T Proposal
Feb 9, 2007 ATT&T signals possible intent to include
proposal in proxy
Jan 19, 2007 AASBCR Rebuts AT&T Appeal
Dec 21, 2006 AT&T Appeals Proposal to SEC
Nov 20, 2006 AT&T first response
Nov 9, 2006 Proposal filed by President Bruce Beckman
Text of Shareholder Proposal
The Proposal states:
“RESOLVED,
the shareholders of AT&T Inc. hereby request that the Board adopt a
policy that includes, as a voting item in the proxy statement for each
annual meeting, an advisory resolution, proposed by AT&T’s management,
to approve the compensation of the named executive officers (“NEOs”),
as set forth in the proxy statement’s Summary Compensation Table (the
“SCT”), and the accompanying narrative disclosure of material factors
provided to understand the SCT. The
policy should ensure that shareholders fully understand the vote is
advisory and will not abrogate any employment agreement.”
It
is our belief that the shareholders have a right to understand the
compensation packages of our senior executives and be provided a means
to demonstrate to the Board of Directors their preferences. At a time
when companies are reducing benefits and dramatically increasing their
health plan charges to employees and
retirees, companies such as ATT are building special plans for their
senior executives to guard them from the very restraints they place on
employees and retirees. As an example, Mr. Whitacre will be paid over
$5 million dollars a year when he
retirees next year plus receive a bonus of $15 million along with a
special health plan package that will permit him to have essentially
free lifetime medical coverage
The AASBCR will be asking all shareholder/members to
support this proposal and mailing in their proxy when the proxies
arrive. We will also be posting various items on the website,
including the SEC letter. In addition, the Association will be
publishing a special publication providing you with more instructions
regarding the proxy vote.
Thank you for your support. This is a very exciting
time for the Association.
02
Healthcare Survey Initiative
February 2007: Ralph Kolderup VP AASBCR Mtg with AT&T
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AT&T provided telephone numbers for escalating retiree
problems with UHC & other contracted providers.
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AT&T indicated that they wanted to hear about problems
retirees had with contracted providers.
January 2007: Survey results presented to
AT&T in a Letter
In his letter to AT&T Ralph urges AT&T to:
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Conduct its own survey to determine the extreme
variances that exist between retiree premium charges and insurance
payments to medical providers and to validate satisfaction with the
Medical Plan and determine issues and implement correction action
plans.
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Simplify the Summary plans and instructions that are
sent to retirees. The 139 page SPD is overwhelming and needs to be
simplified.
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Eliminate the multiple pools for both current employees
and retirees and combine them to gain the lowest costs for health
care. The concept of pooling is unfair and is age discriminatory.
Insurance companies use larger pools to lower costs, the new plan does
the opposite and uses smaller pools which increase costs for those in
a shrinking pool.
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Re-evaluate the 2007 Medical plan
and make every attempt to bring about a reduction in the annual costs
for retiree health care insurance.
03
NRLN CAPWIZ Initiative
The AASBCR is working on obtaining Zip + 4 address
information from members in order to load member information (name,
zip+4 and congressional district) into the NRLN CAPWIZ (Legislation
Action Alert) system.
The CAPWIZ system provides NRLN members with an Email
notification that a specific piece of retiree healthcare or pension
legislation is being considered in Congress. The system presents
members with a pre-composed email that can be modified or sent as is
directly to your specific senators and representatives in Washington.
With a few clicks of your computer’s mouse you can easily provide your
view of the issue prior to a Congressional floor vote. We believe
that AASBCR members should have the opportunity to participate in
these actions.
Typically Senators, Congressmen and their staffs hear
from lobbyists about what is good for the lobbyist about pending
legislation but not from the retirees who can be negatively impacted.
Often times the voting short changes the retiree. This year, with
healthcare changes being seriously discussed in Congress, it is
essential that your legislators hear from you about your Retiree
concerns rather than only those of paid lobbyists. This work effort
is planned to be completed by the end of March 2007.
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