Procter & Gamble (Ticker: PG) Refuses to Publicly Acknowledge Need for Debate Over Sustainable Development; Free Enterprise Acti
29 Mai 2007 - 5:41PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Action Fund
Management, LLC (AFM), the investment advisor to the Free
Enterprise Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX), announced today that
negotiations over the FEAOX's shareholder proposal filed with
Procter & Gamble (Ticker: PG) have broken down over PG's
refusal to acknowledge that company employees should be exposed to
both sides of the debate over sustainable development. "We wanted
Procter & Gamble to show its managers and employees the new
documentary "Mine Your Own Business: The Dark Side of
Environmentalism" (http://www.mineyourownbusiness.org/) and to
publicly acknowledge the need to hear from both sides of the
sustainable development debate," said Steve Milloy of AFM. "While
Procter & Gamble said it was willing to distribute 100 copies
of the film to its employees, the company refused to publicly
acknowledge the value of debate," added Milloy. "Without the
requested public acknowledgment, we doubt that Procter & Gamble
is really sincere about showing its employees 'Mine Your Own
Business,' or educating its employees about what many view as the
dark side of environmentalism," said AFM's Tom Borelli. "Procter
& Gamble's stakeholder engagement on sustainability apparently
is limited only to the voice of environmental activists. 'Mine Your
Own Business' spotlights the human cost of blind adherence to
sustainability -- a message company management needs to hear,"
added Borelli. Negotiations between AFM and PG began after AFM
filed a shareholder proposal with PG requesting a report to
shareholders on the actions the company is taking to promote the
general business environment. "Procter & Gamble touts its
sustainable development activities on its web site, but says little
if anything about what it's doing to promote business, capitalism
and free enterprise," said Milloy. "The company offered to meet
with us about our concerns, but our position was that
employee-viewing of "Mine Your Own Business" would be a more
productive use of everyone's time. "We're obviously disappointed,
but not surprised," said Borelli. "Companies like Procter &
Gamble have been so intimidated by anti-business environmental and
social activists that they're afraid to be seen as considering
alternative points of view," Borelli said. "I suppose we'll have to
look forward to discussing this issue with Procter & Gamble CEO
Alan G. Lafley at the annual shareholder meeting this fall," Milloy
concluded. The FEAOX aims to increase shareholder value by
advancing free-market principles in the companies it owns. FEAOX is
available exclusively through BISYS Fund Services Limited
Partnership (applications may be obtained at
http://www.feaox.com/how.html), and through E*Trade Financial,
Scottrade and HSBC. CONTACT: Audrey Mullen, +1-703-548-1160, for
Free Enterprise Action Fund DATASOURCE: Free Enterprise Action Fund
CONTACT: Audrey Mullen, +1-703-548-1160, for Free Enterprise Action
Fund Web site: http://www.feaox.com/how.html
http://www.mineyourownbusiness.org/
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