Alliance@IBM Members, Shareholders to Challenge IBM Over Offshoring, Executive Compensation at Annual Shareholder Meeting in Charlotte, N.C., on April 29

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 25  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IBM Corp. employees, members of Communications Workers of America Local 1701, Alliance@IBM, will rally and set up an informational picket line outside the IBM annual meeting set for April 29. The group will focus on critical issues for employees and retirees, including executive compensation, the continued offshoring of jobs, employee pay cuts, and shrinking retiree pensions with no cost of living increases, among other issues.

"While IBM employees face a decline in their standard of living and retirees see pension checks evaporate due to the lack of cost-of-living adjustments coupled with increases in medical retirement co-pay, our executives live the life of luxury. Executive greed and bloated compensation needs to be challenged," said IBM employee and Alliance Vice President Earl Mongeon. Mongeon submitted Proposal No. 4 on Executive Compensation that asks the board of directors to determine that pension income from any defined benefit plan will not be used as a factor in setting executive compensation.

Lee Conrad, National Coordinator of Alliance@IBM CWA, is calling on IBM to stop shifting U.S. jobs to low cost countries. "At a time when the US economy is in recession and unemployment is rising, it is unconscionable for companies like IBM to continue to move work offshore. The Alliance is urging elected officials, community leaders and citizens to call on IBM to halt this destruction of U.S. jobs."

"The Alliance@IBM CWA strongly encourages IBM to be fully transparent in the number of jobs being sent off shore and to detail how many U.S. jobs are lost because of IBM's shifting this work to low cost countries," said Linda Guyer, president of the Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701.

More information at http://www.allianceibm.org/ 

Communications Workers of America