Employees, Shareholders Give Tilton A Piece Of Their
Minds
"You continue to be
compensated for failure." That was among the many stinging
statements hurled at United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton Thursday,
during an annual corporate meeting that quickly escalated into a
hostile environment.
Nearly 115 uniformed United employees crowded in the conference
room as shareholders re-elected United's board of directors,
reports The Associated Press. Many of them shouted out questions to
the airline's board, and to United's near-universally-reviled CEO
(shown at right).
When Tilton ended his prepared remarks with a statement of "a
renewed commitment to all of our stockholders," one female employee
shouted "Prove it! Give up your bonuses and your pay! Prove
it!"
Such statements echoed similar grievances raised last year's
shareholder's meeting, as ANN reported. Many United
employees are angered by Tilton's receipt of stock bonuses and
other executive perks, even as workers have seen sharp cuts in
their pay over the years.
Throughout the chaotic proceedings Thursday, Tilton remained
cool... even as others, on both sides of the podium, took heated
jabs at him and each other. In fact, some of the most contentious
exchanges were between shareholders themselves, as employees
watched bemusedly.
One shareholder stood up to argue others were being denied their
chance to speak... and challenged corporate secretary Paul Lovejoy
to rule him out of order. "Good. You're out of order, sir," Lovejoy
responded.
Other shareholders tried to force questions about the
re-election of the directors, ahead of the allotted time. That's
despite the fact the votes had been mailed in prior to the meeting,
and its outcome wasn't open to debate.
A separate proposal to allow shareholders to vote on executive
compensation failed, receiving just 21 percent of the vote. But
despite that loss, workers lined up in the back of the conference
hall to ask the directors questions... and to give Tilton a piece
of their mind.
One worker told the CEO of a funeral for a United worker, who
reportedly committed suicide due to the stresses of their job. A
frequent flier and shareholder said United needed to focus less on
in-flight amenities, and more on keeping its workers happy.
Jose Moreno, an A320 captain for the airline, pointed out to
Tilton that Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner declined to take
his salary for the rest of the year, in a show of solidarity with
embattled airline workers.
Tilton responded United executives needed to be paid competitive
salaries, to keep them from moving to industries with more positive
outlooks. "Someday one of you ought to come up and stand here,"
Tilton said.
As you may expect, several people quickly volunteered.