Make General Electric a Landmine-Free Zone!
- If you have stock in GE, be sure to vote in support of our proposal. Look for your proxy ballot in the mail starting in March. (If you don’t usually receive corporate ballots, the company may be sending them to your broker or investment manager, and you will have to instruct them to vote for this proposal or send you the ballot.)
- Send an e-mail or letter directly to GE in support of the proposal. Sample text:
Mr. Jack Welch
Chairman and CEO
General Electric Company
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT 06431Dear Mr. Welch:Each year, 22,000 people are killed or maimed worldwide by landmines. Landmines are weapons of terror. They are strategically buried to block access to land and water resources, which has the effect of impoverishing populations as well as maiming and killing civilians. Ninety percent (90%) of landmine victims are civilians, and 30-40% are children.The vision of a landmine-free world has caught the imagination of the world’s peoples and their governments. One hundred thirty-eight countrieshave signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, and 101 nations have ratified it.
We urge General Electric to embrace this vision, and unequivocally adopt a policy renouncing any future involvement in the production of landmines or their components, as is requested in a shareholder proposal appearing on the 2001 proxy ballot.
Landmine abolition would not imperil the security of the United States. In 1996, 15 distinguished retired U.S. military officers told Clinton in a full-page open letter in the New York Times: “Given the wide range of weaponry available to military forces today, antipersonnel landmines are not essential. Thus, banning them would not undermine the military effectiveness or safety of our forces, nor those of other nations.” They also said, “We view such a ban as not only humane, but also militarily responsible.” Those who signed include General David Jones, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander Operation Desert Storm; General John Galvin, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Lt. General James Hollingsworth, former Commander of U.S. forces in Korea; and Lt. General Robert Gard, former President, National Defense University. This year, Generals Hollingsworth and Emerson reiterated the need for the US to join the Mine Ban Treaty.
Nineteen companies that were once involved in the production of landmine components have pledged no future involvement in this destructive business. Please join those companies and ensure that GE will truly live up to its pledge to “bring good things to life” — only good things.
Sincerely,
Your name - Whether or not you are a GE stockholder, help us urge the company’s largest stockholders to support the proposal. Their support is critical! Our sample letter is followed by contact information for GE’s top shareholders.
Eric Roiter
Fidelity Research & Management
82 Devonshire Street
Boston, MA 02109Dear Mr. Roiter:This year, shareholders of General Electric Company (GE) have sponsored a ballot proposal that asks the company to establish a firm policy to renounce future involvement in antipersonnel and cluster bomb production. I urge you to vote Fidelity’s GE shares in favor of this proposal. [If you own shares in a Fidelity mutual fund, be sure to note that you are writing as a client as well.]Each year, 22,000 people are killed or maimed worldwide by landmines. Landmines are used principally as weapons of terror. They are strategically buried to block access to land and water resources, which has the effect of impoverishing populations as well as maiming and killing civilians. Ninety percent (90%) of landmine victims are civilians, and 20-30% are children.
The vision of a landmine-free world has caught the imagination of the world’s peoples and their governments. One hundred thirty-eight countrieshave signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, and 101 nations have ratified it. The Treaty calls for a total ban on use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel landmines. The U.S. was one of the world’s biggest exporters of landmines until 1992. Our country observes an export ban, but the position of the new Administration on the landmine treaty is not clear, and we have not acceded to the treaty.
Landmine abolition would not imperil the security of the United States. In 1996, 15 distinguished retired U.S. military officers told Clinton in a full-page open letter in the New York Times: “Given the wide range of weaponry available to military forces today, antipersonnel landmines are not essential. Thus, banning them would not undermine the military effectiveness or safety of our forces, nor those of other nations.” They also said, “We view such a ban as not only humane, but also militarily responsible.” Those who signed include General David Jones, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander Operation Desert Storm; General John Galvin, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Lt. General James Hollingsworth, former Commander of U.S. forces in Korea; and Lt. General Robert Gard, former President, National Defense University. This year, Generals Hollingsworth and Emerson reiterated the need for the US to join the Mine Ban Treaty.
Taking take the anti-landmine pledge would not threaten General Electric’s business strategy, as the company has not engaged in landmine component production in nearly a decade.
For all of these reasons, please vote Fidelity’s shares in support of this important proposal. Tell GE to take a firm stand in support of this humanitarian and achievable campaign on behalf of innocent civilians worldwide.
Sincerely,
Your name
General Electric’s top 10 shareholders are:
Fidelity Research & Management
82 Devonshire Street
Boston MA 02109
Attn: E ric Roiter
Barclays Bank PLC
54 Lombard Street
London EN EC3P 3AH
United Kingdom
Attn: Vivien Lin
State Street Corporation
225 Franklin Street
Boston, MA 02110
Attn: Frederick P. Baughman
Vanguard Group Inc.
100 Vanguard Blvd.
PO Box 2600
Valley Forge, PA 19482
Attn: Raymond J. Klapinsky
Putnam Investment Managment Inc
One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109
Attn: Nancy Fisher
Mellon Bank Corp.
One Mellon Bank Center
Room 0980
Pittsburgh, PA 15258
Attn: Jacqlyn D.Stein
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Attn: Anthony Horan
Janus Capital Corp.
100 Fillmore Street
Suite 300
Denver, CO 80206
Attn: Heidi J. Walter
Taunus Corporation
31 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
Attn: Damian Reitemeyer
TIAA-CREF Investment Management LLC
730 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017-3206
Attn: Richard Schlefer
Public Pension Funds – GE’s largest public pension fund investors
TIAA CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association & the College Retirement Equities Fund
730 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017-3206
Attn: Richard Schlefer
CALPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System)
400 P Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Attn: Denise M. Arend
New York State Common Retirement Fund
AE Smith State Office Building, 6th Floor
Albany, NY 12236
Attn: John E. Hull
California State Teachers Retirement System
7667 Folsom Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95816-3749
Attn: John Petzold
State Board of Administration of Florida
1801 Hermitage Boulevard, Suite 100
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Attn: Tom Herndon
Michigan Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 15128
Lansing, MI 48901
Attn: Vernon L. Johnson
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio
275 East Broad Street
Columbus, OHG 43215
Attn: Stephen A. Mitchell
