Unions Call for Michael Dell’s Removal

Unions Call for Michael Dell’s Removal

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are asking investors to withhold their vote from Michael Dell at the company’s annual shareholder meeting next week.
The labor groups cite SEC allegations and excessive pay as major concerns in a letter sent out to shareholders.
Dell recently announced that it had reached a settlement with the SEC  over the long-running fraud investigation into the PC maker’s relationship with Intel(INTC ), agreeing to pay a penalty of 0 million.
CEO Michael Dell also agreed to pay a million penalty to settle an SEC charge related to an alleged disclosure violation. In a statement released last month, the tech giant explained that Dell and its CEO had entered into the settlements “without admitting or denying” the allegations in the SEC’s complaint.
The AFL-CIO and AFSCME have also attacked Michael Dell’s salary in their joint letter(Dell battery).
“As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Michael Dell realized 3.8 million in total compensation including stock option exercises between 2000 and 2009,” the unions explained. “Meanwhile shareholders lost 66% of the value of their stock.”
A Dell spokeswoman described the references to Michael Dell’s compensation as “misleading” in a statement emailed to TheStreet, explaining that he has not received a bonus for four years and hasn’t been granted stock or stock options for six years. “His compensation total cited in the Wall Street Journal article was primarily the result of expiring stock options from the 1990s that he exercised in 2000, 2001 and 2005,” she added.

The spokeswoman also said that the SEC has not limited Michael Dell from continuing to serve as an officer of the company.

“The company stands behind Michael and is pleased to have resolved the investigation,” she added.