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To: LBstocks who wrote (72341)	5/24/2000 4:56:00 PM
From: TShirtPrinter	Respond to of 152472

It's almost 5PM EST. Been away from the puter all day. I am missing any mention about the House vote. Any news ? Thanks, Tony

To: LBstocks who wrote (72341)	5/24/2000 5:13:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 152472

CMA-Feeling The Heat > Shareholders pressure AT&T on growth, union issues By Jessica Hall CHICAGO, May 24 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) pleaded for patience on Wednesday as shareholders questioned the telephone and cable television giant's slumping stock price and union activists urged it to back actors' unions in their strike against TV and radio advertisers. AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong told about 800 AT&T shareholders that the company's investments in wireless, cable television and data services will spark future growth and allow it to escape its legacy as the caretaker of a shrinking consumer long-distance telephone business. ``What your management is doing about this company and its stock price is building businesses that are growing in a fantastically growing industry,'' Armstrong said at the company's 115th annual shareholder meeting. Shares of AT&T have fallen more than 28 percent this year over the company's curtailed growth outlook for 2000, uncertainty about its $100 billion investments in cable television and general stock market weakness. AT&T's stock price drop surpassed declines of about 22 percent in the long-distance telephone sector and about 5 percent in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Referring to the stock price, Armstrong said: ``None of us like where it is.'' Shares of AT&T closed at 34-3/4, down 1/16, on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The subdued tone of the two-and-a-half hour meeting was in sharp contrast to last year's upbeat gathering when the company played the song ``Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now'' as shareholders praised Armstrong for his bold changes and innovation. ``I'm counting on this stock for my retirement, so I want to know what's going on. But asking why the stock is down is like asking God why the weather is bad today,'' said a 20-year AT&T shareholder from Chicago, who declined to give his name. Armstrong said the stock price doesn't reflect the positive changes the company has made or its goal to increase revenues by 6 to 7 percent to $68 billion this year. Armstrong emphasised the company's recent efforts to generate growth, such as last month's record $10.6 billion initial public offering of a tracking stock for its wireless business. Some investors, however, were unimpressed. ``I liked that he (Armstrong) didn't try to hide the fact that the stock has been falling so fast, but I still don't know exactly what they're going to do about it,'' said a retired plumber from Crown Point, Ind., who said he has been an AT&T shareholder for more than 40 years. Much of the meeting was overshadowed by comments from unionized actors who lambasted the company for using non-union actors in a commercial produced during a four-week actors' strike. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists unions, which represent about 135,000 actors, went on strike May 1 over a contract dispute with advertisers over residual payments earned by actors for appearing in TV commercials. Entertainment luminaries such as Elliott Gould, Gary Cole and Jere Burns urged AT&T to sign an interim agreement accepting the terms of the unions' latest contract proposals in exchange for allowing union actors to work. Armstrong made no promises about the interim agreement but told the actors he would investigate the matter. AT&T also acknowledged that it used non-union actors in a commercial for the launch of its wireless telephone business. It said it is currently shuffling older ads instead of producing new commercials during the strike. AT&T denied accusations that it hired RSA USA Inc., a production company that sparked controversy by running an advertisement branded racist and sexist by union actors due to its use of an image of an elderly black woman's breasts. The actors passed out copies of the ad, as well as other information about the strike, to shareholders attending the meeting. RSA co-owner and film director Ridley Scott later apologised for the controversial ad, which has suggested that commercial producers could save money during the actors strike by moving production to South Africa. Armstrong also faced heckling from unionized AT&T workers who criticised the company's recent job cuts and outsourcing programmes. AT&T plans to cut about 6,200 workers, or about 4 percent of its workforce, by year-end as part of ongoing cost-cutting efforts. Amrstrong emphatically denied that AT&T was attempting to bust any union or shift work away from union employees. About half of AT&T's 148,000 workers are unionized. ``In no way, shape, or form do we have any intention of doing any union busting,'' Armstrong said. ``I'm not giving your work away. I'm only outsourcing where it is needed to be competitive. No bargaining people have been affected by this. I am supportive of the unions. I respect the unions and I respect the work that you do,'' Armstrong said. Also during the meeting shareholders voted to increase the number of authorised shares of Liberty Media Group (NYSE:LMGa - news)(NYSE:LMGb - news), the company's cable television programming arm, allowing Liberty to proceed with a previously announced stock split. Shareholders defeated seven shareholder proposals, ranging from freezing executive pay when jobs are cut to tying executive pay to employee satisifaction.