Shareholder Advocacy
Shareholder advocacy seeks to change corporate behavior through proposing and representing resolutions at annual stockholder meetings. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has engaged in shareholder activism for more than forty years, and has celebrated some key victories. We work together with other religious organizations through the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Our resolutions have advocated for many issues such as good corporate governance, non-discriminatory employment practices, ending predatory lending programs and reasonable pricing of medications for treatment of AIDS. Our resolutions have helped bring press and public attention to the exploitation of Third-World women and children working in cruel labor conditions.Partnership with New York City Comptroller's Office—In early 2002, the office for New York City Employees' Pension Funds contacted the UUA, asking our assistance with a number of shareholder activism projects. With one thousand congregations across the country, we were aptly situated to send representatives of their Comptroller's Office to the annual shareholder meetings of the companies New York City wished to target.
2008 Shareholder Advocacy Season
UUA’s current campaigns (PDF, 1 page) address executive compensation at Abbott Labs, Clear Channel, Merrill Lynch and Valero Energy; climate change reporting at Foundation Coal; non-discrimination policies for sexual orientation/gender identity at Verizon and Wal-Mart; and separate CEO and Board Chair at Time Warner.
Summaries of Recent Shareholder Advocacy Seasons
- 2007 Shareholder Season
- 2006 Shareholder Season
- 2005 Shareholder Season
- 2004 Shareholder Season
- 2003 Shareholder Season
- 2002 Shareholder Season
Case Study: Shareholder Activism and Home Depot
In 2001 the UUA and other large shareholders succeeded in getting Home Depot to change a written policy statement so that it prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. The UUA’s engagement with Home Depot emerged from its endowment fund investment in Home Depot stock. This case study details the process of shareholder activism and offers an excellent introduction to this powerful tool for social justice.
Visit Congregations’ Stories to read about different congregation’s successes with shareholder advocacy.
Last updated on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
