The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholder meeting may prove more contentious with some controversy surrounding the presence and attendance, or lack there of, by Steve Jobs. A large shareholder group, Institutional Shareholder Services, has raised questions about Jobs’ attendance at Disney board and committee meetings, and the powerful AFL-CIO union has announced it has voted against Job being returned to the board, according to a report from The Los Angeles Times.
The two organizations gave slightly differing reasons for their positions, both tied to attendance. The AFL-CIO explained that it felt that full-time CEOs for other companies, who have responsibilities to their own shareholders, are inevitably compromised — unable to give their full attention and attendance to board meetings for another publicly-traded company.
A spokesman for the union said that Jobs’ medical complications played a role in their decision by increasing his absenteeism from Disney meetings. Jobs, the largest individual shareholder at Disney, has attended fewer than 75 percent of board and committee meetings over the last three years.
