Fairness Group Lauds Donnelley Shareholder Vote on Pay Equity

Press Release
For Immediate Release - March 25,1999
Contact:Betsy Leondar-Wright
(617)423-2148 x13

Economic Fairness Group Lauds Donnelley Shareholder Vote on Pay Equity

A surpising 16.2% vote by R.R. Donnelley shareholders this morning for a wage gap resolution was hailed as í¬sending a strong signal to management on the issue of pay equity,í® according to Heidi Soumerai, a Vice President of United States Trust Company, Ms. Soumerai presented the resolution at the annual meeting today in Chicago.

The resolution calls for the company to complete a study to determine whether women and minority employees are compensated fairly relative to their male and white colleagues. The resolution at R.R. Donnelley was initiated by United for a Fair Economy and co-sponsored by United States Trust Company, a Boston-based investment manager that serves socially concerned clients, and the Domini Social Equity Fund, a socially screened mutual fund.

Soumerai added that the surprising success of this first-time resolution í¬can only be seen as sending a clear message to R.R. Donnelley's management that, regardless of their past hiring practices, a pay equity study is a useful path to follow, particularly for a company that has been in the news recently facing charges of discrimination.í®

Resolution proponents were prompted to act by a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announcement that pay discrepancies had been uncovered during a DOL pay equity audit of R.R. Donnelley's management workers. Last fall R.R. Donnelley paid a settlement to some women and minority managers.

The shareholder resolution is a part of a national campaign addressing economic inequality sponsored by Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy. Responsible Wealth's members and supporters have also introduced shareholder resolutions about wage inequities at eight other U.S. corporations so far this year: AT&T, AlliedSignal, BankAmerica, BankBoston, Citigroup, Computer Associates, General Electric, and Huffy.

United for a Fair Economy is a national nonprofit organization that spotlights growing economic inequality and advocates shared prosperity.