Headline News
Hall: Shareholder Victory Wake-up Call for McKesson
In an effort led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a long-term shareholder in McKesson, a majority of McKesson shareholders voted to reject the executive pay plan. Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall traveled to Irving, Texas to speak at the shareholder meeting and confront CEO John Hammergren and the entire board of directors directly about the failed oversight of opioid distribution that has fueled this public health crisis.
With this historic vote, shareholders at McKesson have sent a clear message to Hammergren – he will be held accountable for the company’s role in opioid crisis that plagues this country.
“For the first time ever, shareholders have voted to hold a company accountable for its role in the opioid epidemic. The reforms that will be enacted as a result of this vote will not bring back the lives taken by the opioid crisis, but hopefully will provide greater oversight and accountability for how prescription drugs are distributed in this country,” Hall said. “This shareholder vote should serve as a wake-up call to AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and other companies involved in the manufacturing or distribution of prescription opioids that shareholders want to see change. We cannot afford another decade of business as usual. The Teamsters will not back down from this fight.”
McKesson has failed to address the business practices and governance structures that perpetuate its role in the crisis. Executive compensation at McKesson has continued to soar; over the past 10 years, CEO John Hammergren has received more than $630 million in compensation, including $98 million in compensation in 2017.
With this vote, McKesson shareholders have made it clear that they do not want their company and its CEO to continue to profit at the expense of millions of Americans that are victims of opioid abuse. As a direct result of failures in McKesson’s distribution model, opioids flood states like West Virginia in such excess, opioid overdoses have climbed to a record 62 deaths per day.