Caterpillar shareholders reject Israel resolution

[54anickel]

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/04/14/rtr1332452.html

CHICAGO, April 14 (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc. (nyse: CAT - news - people) shareholders on Wednesday defeated a proposal that would have asked the company to re-evaluate selling bulldozers to the Israeli army.

About half a dozen people spoke at the company's normally subdued annual meeting in support of the resolution, which was prompted by the use of Caterpillar machinery to raze Palestinian homes.

The company's board had opposed the measure, which received only 4 percent of the preliminary vote count.

"We have tremendous compassion for the families involved," said Jim Owens, who recently took over as Caterpillar's chairman and chief executive. "But with more than 2 million machines and engines out there, we don't have the practical ability or the legal right to determine how our products are used after they are sold."

more...

[Eye and Monkey]

1. "don't have the...legal right to determine how our products are used"

I wonder if they have a potential liability once they know but willfully ignore.

[rooboy]

2. Would this resolution have been able to prevent...

the Israeli army getting the dozers from a distributor or re-seller? If so, the resolution would have only been symbolic. I don't know if it's appropriate for companies to be making political statements - God knows they've done enough damage with their support of the right.

[Eye and Monkey]

3. "companies...making political statements" - isn't that what

campaign contribs, industry-written legislation, and lobbyists are all about?

If executives, board members, and powerful share-holders can and do use these avenues to express the political statements of their interests - shouldn't other share-holders be able to vote to alter or augment the corpoRATions' politics?

[Voltaire99]

4. LOL! Allow me to translate.

"We have tremendous compassion for the families involved," said Jim Owens, who recently took over as Caterpillar's chairman and chief executive. "But with more than 2 million machines and engines out there, we don't have the practical ability or the legal right to determine how our products are used after they are sold."

Translation: Bulldozers don't kill people or flatten their homes. Our really lucrative customers do.