Employees, Shareholders Give Tilton A Piece Of Their Minds

"You continue to be compensated for failure." That was among the many stinging statements hurled at United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton Thursday, during an annual corporate meeting that quickly escalated into a hostile environment.

Nearly 115 uniformed United employees crowded in the conference room as shareholders re-elected United's board of directors, reports The Associated Press. Many of them shouted out questions to the airline's board, and to United's near-universally-reviled CEO (shown at right).

When Tilton ended his prepared remarks with a statement of "a renewed commitment to all of our stockholders," one female employee shouted "Prove it! Give up your bonuses and your pay! Prove it!"

Such statements echoed similar grievances raised last year's shareholder's meeting, as ANN reported. Many United employees are angered by Tilton's receipt of stock bonuses and other executive perks, even as workers have seen sharp cuts in their pay over the years.

Throughout the chaotic proceedings Thursday, Tilton remained cool... even as others, on both sides of the podium, took heated jabs at him and each other. In fact, some of the most contentious exchanges were between shareholders themselves, as employees watched bemusedly.

One shareholder stood up to argue others were being denied their chance to speak... and challenged corporate secretary Paul Lovejoy to rule him out of order. "Good. You're out of order, sir," Lovejoy responded.

Other shareholders tried to force questions about the re-election of the directors, ahead of the allotted time. That's despite the fact the votes had been mailed in prior to the meeting, and its outcome wasn't open to debate.

A separate proposal to allow shareholders to vote on executive compensation failed, receiving just 21 percent of the vote. But despite that loss, workers lined up in the back of the conference hall to ask the directors questions... and to give Tilton a piece of their mind.

One worker told the CEO of a funeral for a United worker, who reportedly committed suicide due to the stresses of their job. A frequent flier and shareholder said United needed to focus less on in-flight amenities, and more on keeping its workers happy.

Jose Moreno, an A320 captain for the airline, pointed out to Tilton that Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner declined to take his salary for the rest of the year, in a show of solidarity with embattled airline workers.

Tilton responded United executives needed to be paid competitive salaries, to keep them from moving to industries with more positive outlooks. "Someday one of you ought to come up and stand here," Tilton said.

As you may expect, several people quickly volunteered.

FMI: www.united.com