PRESS RELEASE The International shareholder campaign within Rio Tinto 22 May 2000 This Wednesday 24 May, the Annual General Meeting of Rio Tinto will be held in Brisbane. This will bring to a head an international proxy contest waged by trade unions in the UK, USA and Australia over the company's corporate governance standards and employment practices. It is expected that the union-sponsored resolutions will attract significant support, especially in the light of support from the Australian Shareholders Association and international independent shareholder advisory services. The Rio Tinto shareholder campaign heralds a new phase in increasing the accountability of major firms, and marks a new phase in strategic action by trade unions and international co-operation amongst them. 8 March Launch; intensive investor effort since The campaign was simultaneously launched in Sydney , London and Washington DC on 8 March. Under the umbrella of the Coalition of Rio Tinto Shareholders the chief sponsoring organisations were the CFMEU (Australia), the ACTU , the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Unions (ICEM). Combined, these organisations represent 41 million workers. The proxy campaign is the first ever involving a global coalition. And because Rio Tinto is a dual listed company in the UK and Australia, it is the first campaign to involve seeking investor support in two jurisdictions. There has been intensive solicitation of investors in the USA, UK and Australia over the last two months involving targeted mailings, a special-purpose website and numerous direct consultations. In Australia the investor liaison effort has been lead by Susan Ryan, AO. Whilst the campaign has been underway Ms Ryan has been elected President of the Australian institute Of Superannuation Trustees. Exactly what's happening On 24 May shareholders of Rio Tinto will have the opportunity to vote on two resolutions that have been put forward by trade unions and which are opposed by the board of directors. The first is on good corporate governance. It calls for any Deputy Chairman to be independent of the executive director team and therefore able to better reflect shareholders' interests. Rio Tinto currently has both an Executive Chairman and a Chief Executive. It is now proposing to appoint the immediate- past Chief Executive as Deputy Chairman. The resolution also calls for the board to disclose which of its directors qualify as being genuinely independent and its criteria for doing so. Currently the board does not identify its independent directors so shareholders have no means of determining if there is a reasonable balance between independent directors and the executive director team. The second resolution calls for the company to commit to observing the core minimum workplace rights standards of the UN's International Labour Organisation. This has been moved in the interests of giving clarity to Rio Tinto's employment policies by giving specific benchmarks against which employment policy and practice can be measured. It is seen as especially important for risk management in a company that operates in a large number of countries and which has been the subject of human rights abuses in the workplace. The full text of the resolutions and their supporting statements can be found at www.rio-tinto-shareholders.com The Coalition will present its case from the floor of the Brisbane meeting, whilst outside there will be a large but peaceful rally of union members and supporters. Major institutional investor support achieved In Australia the resolution on good corporate governance has been specifically endorsed by the Australian Shareholders Association and Independent Shareholder Services, a leading advisory group to major investors. There have been indications of support for one or both of the resolutions from key institutional investors. In the UK the resolutions have attracted the support of investors with over 65 billion pounds under management, including Top 20 shareholders such as the Co-operative Insurance Society. The UK arm of the campaign concluded on 10 May with the London AGM. The final voting figures for both meetings will be released by the company after 24 May. Rio Tinto Board forced to move The board of the company has been forced to lobby many institutional investors to shore up a deteriorating support base. Many investors cannot understand why the board has chosen to oppose adoption of improved corporate governance, or why adherence to international minimum labour standards presents a difficulty. For the CFMEU, the ACTU and the international labour organisations with which they have worked, the campaign has already been a success. Trade unions have demonstrated that they can work with shareholders for the mutual benefit of both in moving a big company towards improved board and workplace practice. Further Information : Susan Ryan - 0411 013 268 Peter Colley - 0417 992 995 Paddy Gorman - 0418 116 426 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink