Proxy advisory firm backs Teamsters' bid for independent board chairman at FedEx

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 11 - The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said RiskMetrics Group/ISS recommended that FedEx Corp. shareholders vote for the union's proposal calling for an independent board chairman at the company's annual meeting on Sept. 29.

According to a Teamsters' statement, this is the second consecutive year that RiskMetrics has supported the Teamsters' proposal for an independent chairman at FedEx.

RiskMetrics cited its concerns about FedEx's poor financial performance relative to transportation industry peers and the S&P 500, as well as an executive pay system "that does not hold management accountable" for its performance, the statement said.

The proxy advisory firm also believes the board of the Memphis-based package shipping company "lacks an effective independent director leadership structure to counterbalance the power of a combined chairman of the board/chief executive officer role."

"Shareholders can no longer afford for FedEx's board to be dominated by founder and CEO Frederick W. Smith," Teamsters general secretary-treasurer C. Thomas Keegel said in the statement.

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