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From: Jewish Voice for Peace <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 17:36:21 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Stunning Success at CAT Shareholder Meeting
Dear Nina:
All of us at JVP, especially the members of the Caterpillar committee, are just catching our breath after the build-up to the Caterpillar annual meeting in Chicago on April 13. Still, we couldn't wait to let you know what happened. We're simply ecstatic about the work of diverse groups that came together to call on CAT to end the sale of weaponized bulldozers to the Israeli military, including Stop Caterpillar-Chicago, US Campaign to End the Occupation, the Sisters of Loretto, Mercy Investment Group, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
On the global front, protests were held in over 30 cities around the world, bringing massive attention to CAT's role in profiting from violating human rights and perpetuating the occupation.
Shareholder resolutions are non-binding, so the goal is not to win all the votes but rather to shine a spotlight on the issue -- a spotlight that cannot be ignored by CAT board of directors. In that,we were successful beyond our wildest dreams.
The issue of home demolitions of Palestinian homes dominated the entire meeting, ensuring that the staff and board of directors of CAT will be dealing with this issue for a long time to come. CAT CEO Jim Owens spent the majority of the meeting asking, "Does anyone have anything else to talk about, anything related to business?" Of course the only business that most people attending wanted to talk about was home demolitions and sales to the Israeli military.
Three people from the American Jewish Congress and Stand With Us also attended the meeting. JVP Co-Director Liat Weingart spoke to Rosz Rothstein, the representative from Stand With Us, who shockingly told Weingart that Palestinians do not own their land. "What do they expect will happen if they build a house in Yosemite? If you build on land that isn't yours, how can you expect that it won't be demolished?" We took heart in the knowledge that AJCongress and Stand With Us are out of touch with both the US administration's understanding of the conflict and with mainstream American Jewish opinion, which is much more peace-minded and respectful of human rights.
JVP board member Sara Norman gave a stunning speech to introduce our shareholder resolution, saying that investigating CAT bulldozers' role in destroying civilian homes is "responsible corporate decision-making." Our resolution got 3% of the vote, meaning we won the support of investors holding close to 3/4 billion dollars of CAT stock, including CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the world. Finally, we achieved feature coverage in dozens of media outlets throughout the world including the LA Times <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=1&url="" , the Jerusalem Post <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=2&url="" and Haaretz <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=3&url="" , the Associated Press, and Reuters <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=4&url="" . One of America's most respected business programs, NPR's Marketplace <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=5&url="" , also featured the campaign as the second story on their evening program on April 13. As the Chicago Tribune <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=12166049&url_num=6&url="" reported, CAT suffered a "punishing public relations campaign" this past year.
The campaign is starting to have a clear financial impact on the company. Whereas in 2001, only 3 stories ran in major media connecting CAT bulldozers with human rights abuses, already in the first quarter of 2005, 275 similar stories have run in major English language publications. One commentator documented that CAT stock went down by 8.5% on the week of the shareholder vote, as compared to a 6% decrease for competitor John Deere. On the week of an annual meeting, it's very unusual that a company's stock decrease, rather than increase, given that the focus of an annual meeting is to highlight the strengths and accomplishments of the company.
Now, with partners all over the world taking action to stop CAT sales to the Israeli military and to divest from corporations that irresponsibility profit from the occupation, the tide is starting to turn.
Cecilie Surasky
Jewish Voice for Peace
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