Ford shareholders listen closely to policy proposal, but still say no

Ford shareholders listen closely to policy proposal, but still say no

The pro-family activist who presented a Ford shareholder's resolution to remove sexual orientation from company equal employment policies is not discouraged that it failed adoption for a second straight year. Convinced it made an impact during the annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, he's contemplating another run at it next year.

Tom Strobhar, who read the proposal at the meeting for shareholder Dr. Robert Hurley, believes other shareholders who are angry about Ford Motor Company's financial woes listened with open ears to statements about the negative impact of the company's support of the homosexual agenda. "Clearly, Ford has been going in the wrong direction and has had disastrous financial consequences, which set the tone of the whole meeting," observes Strobhar.

Hurley's resolution, the eighth of nine presented that day, received just short of the five percent of votes it did last year. But Strobhar says one difference this year was the level of attention shareholders seemed to give to the facts he mentioned during its oral presentation. As he puts it, the resolution "quieted" the meeting.

"People were very attentive," he says. "You could have heard a pin drop at the meeting when I did my resolution. There were many angry shareholders there, and when I told the shareholders about the 700,000 people who are boycotting Ford, they paid attention."

That consumer reaction, voiced through the website BoycottFord.com, may have been a factor in the other differences since Ford's last meeting -- severe drops in national sales revenue, including 13 percent lower last month than in April 2006; and worker layoffs and plant closings, including more announced this week in Ohio that will affect more than 1,000 employees.

"Believe me, workers at those institutions would be horrified to know that Ford Motor is giving money to gay and lesbian pride events in London and [toward] building gay and lesbian centers at the expense of their jobs," Strobhar opined.

Strobhar says although the chances with this resolution are over, he may bring another one relating to Ford's charitable contributions to the meeting next year. This year's vote on the resolution earned Hurley and Strobhar a return appearance.