FUROR IN THE BOARDROOM

Pioneering actions are not always celebrated, and that was especially true in the case of ESCRU’s shareholder resolution, which caused a furor in the GM boardroom. Many contentious negotiations proceeded from there, as GM begged for the resolution to be withdrawn. But Neuhauser and ESCRU stood firm.

Ultimately, the company adopted what were known as the Sullivan Principles, created by Reverend Leon Sullivan, a Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and social advocate who was the first African American on GM’s board. The Sullivan Principles were workplace rules that specified policies such as equal pay for equal work, increasing the number of blacks and nonwhites in management and supervisory positions, and the elimination of discriminatory workplace practices such as segregation of restrooms, eating areas, and drinking fountains. If these actions did not bring about the end of apartheid in ten years, Sullivan called for all companies doing business in South Africa to divest their operations in the country. These principles became a blueprint for ending apartheid.