WILMINGTON, Ohio, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The shareholders of ABX Holdings, Inc., on Tuesday passed a resolution to force accountability and transparency on poison pill provisions.
ABX management objected to the resolution.
"Today was a real victory for shareholders and members," said Capt. David Ross, president of Teamsters Local 1224, which represents the 650 pilots of ABX Air, a subsidiary of ABX Holdings, Inc.
The shareholder resolution was submitted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, of which Local 1224 is an affiliate. The resolution called for more disclosure and accountability from the ABX Holdings board of directors. It overturns an existing poison pill provision and prevents management from adopting a new poison pill provision without a shareholder vote.
Poison pills can insulate management from acting in the best interest of investors in the event of an acquisition offer.
The shareholder success at the standing-room only annual meeting today follows a two-month shareholder awareness campaign by Teamsters Local 1224. That campaign successfully questioned the viability of the company's long-term business strategy. It encouraged shareholders and other interested parties to demand answers from ABX Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Hete.
"Many people stood up today and asked tough, serious, demanding questions of ABX Holdings executives," Ross said. "What was received in response was the typical strategy of duck, deny, delay and blame. On each of the key questions ABX Holdings executives either blamed their single largest client, DHL, or unionized labor for the problems facing the company."
The campaign included ads in the Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, major Ohio newspapers, and air cargo trade papers. Direct mailings to top shareholders and an accompanying website, askjoehete.com, focused on crucial questions that the union felt shareholders needed to ask at the annual meeting.
"While we were pleased that shareholders have forced the company to address the critical area of poison pills, this is just the beginning of a call for more accountability from the leadership of ABX Holdings to the shareholders and employees of this company," said Ross.
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters represent 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
