wfn.org | Pension Board Continues Disney Dialogue

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (426
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Note 423 by UMNS on Oct. 31, 1997 at 16:03 Eastern (2971 characters).

CONTACT:	Ralph E. Baker						611(10-21-71B){423}
		Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470			Oct. 31, 1997

United Methodist pension board
continues dialogue with Disney

	SKOKIE, Ill. (UMNS) – The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health
Benefits will continue its dialogue with Walt Disney Company on issues of
concern to the United Methodist Church, according to a decision by the board’s
directors during their meeting here Oct. 23-24.
	The board is concerned about Disney’s executive compensation, fair labor
practices, and its advertising and promotion of some products.
	Earlier this year the Southern Baptist Convention launched a boycott of
Disney because of its "gay friendly" policies, but Board of Pension and Health
Benefits officials told United Methodist News Service their long-standing,
positive dialogue with Disney has nothing to do with the Baptist action.
	"We were acting on the basis of the role given the board by the Discipline
[the denomination’s book of law] to be a responsible fiduciary and to be
socially responsible, using our influence to help inform corporate policies,"
said Vidette Bullock Mixon, director of corporate relations and social
concerns.
	The decision to continue the dialogue is consistent with the board’s strategy
of using shareholder influence to raise issues of social importance consistent
with the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles.
	"We believe we can more positively affect corporate behavior by adopting a
socially proactive stance," said Mixon.
	Recently the board achieved results with the NIKE corporation using this
strategy.
	In September, the agency, along with four other investors, agreed to withdraw
a shareholder resolution on fair labor practices filed with NIKE.  The
corporation, in return, agreed to five initiatives including a study of its
wage practices and third-party monitoring of its operations in Southeast Asia.
 These agreements followed a year of discussion between board representatives
and NIKE.
	"A lot of positive benefit has come about as the result of the ongoing
dialogue," said Barbara Boigegrain, top staff executive of the board.
	The churchwide Board of Pension and Health Benefits hopes to achieve results
with Disney in the same way, using its position as an investor to influence
social change.
	In other action the directors approved a rate stabilization fund to provide
relief for any HealthFlex conference whose rate increase is 5 percent or more
than the average increase of all the conferences. HealthFlex conferences are
those that participate in the board’s voluntary health plan.
	"The rate stabilization fund will help protect a conference when
circumstances beyond its control cause a spike in health insurance rates,"
said HealthFlex plan/service manager Bob Preusch. "This is one way that our
new rating model will help continue to make HealthFlex rates highly
competitive with the marketplace."
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