JVP Statement at the Caterpillar 2008 Shareholder Meeting

Mr. Chairman, Fellow Shareholders:

My name is Lynn Pollack. On behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace, the Sisters of Loreto, and the Mercy Investment Group, I am advocating that Caterpillar  adopts policies to reduce reputational risk to the company and the consequent threat of lowered stock prices.

We can all read on the company’s website the following statement, “our success contributes to the quality of life of all people”

Now that’s a value we can all agree with.  That’s a value to invest in.  But how does weaponry fit in with the social value of contributing to the quality of life of all people?

I think we’d all agree that corporations have a responsibility to follow their own ethical standards.   It’s equally crucial to understand that socially responsible behavior is not an impediment to business but a key to sustainable profitability.

We believe with the American Red Cross that "the greater the availability of arms, the greater the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law."  …

We believe that the use of Caterpillar equipment by foreign militaries in actions that violate human rights and international humanitarian law raises issues for Caterpillar corporate policy and risks damage to the company’s reputation.

As a shareholder, we need to know where these military sales are taking place.  As it stands, we know one place where Caterpillar machinery / weapons are being used to perpetrate grave human rights abuses in a conflict zone.  That place is in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza.

In just the last two years, , more than 2300 Palestinians have been made homeless in the West Bank and Gaza as part of a multi-faceted military campaign.  The weapon of choice?  The Caterpillar D9.

Consider the fate of Abd al Hahm a Natah, a 62-year old father of 11.  A farmer, he and his family were among 270 villagers living in Kirbat Qassa in the West Bank. As a Natah testified  to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, “ We were content.  Raising our flocks guaranteed us and our families a good life.”

But in October of 2007, soldiers demolished their dwellings  and farm structures and razed the village to the ground.  The villagers’ crime ? Simply living on their own land.  The weapon used by Israel to destroy their lives?  The Cat D9.

Israel has employed a policy of house demolition, uprooting of orchards, and destruction of farmland in the Occupied Territories. This policy is part of Israel's military strategy. It’s a pity that Israel’s Chief of Staff had good reason to say that “The D-9 [a bulldozer] is a strategic weapon here.”

We know about these malfeasant uses of the CAT bulldozers in Israel and Palestine.  So does the world.  The question we raise today is: where else is CAT equipment being used as weaponry?  How vulnerable is CAT to worldwide condemnation?  And how can we, as shareholders, change these risky corporate policies if we don’t know the extent of Caterpillar’s involvement in weaponry.  That is why I move Proposal # 5, directing the Board of Directors to provide a comprehensive report within six months detailing all of Caterpillar’s foreign sales of weapon-related products.

RESOLVED:  Shareholders request that, within six months of the annual meeting, the Board of Directors provide a comprehensive report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary and classified information, on Caterpillar’s foreign sales of weapons-related products, and other equipment and services related to those products for the past 10 years, including the country of destination for the products.
 
 
 


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