Protests Crashing Warren’s Party

The Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, on April 30 this year, is always a draw for Warren Buffett fans. It’s also a magnet for protests. ——Noah Buhayar and Emma Orr

Abortion

Buffett’s support for family planning and reproductive rights has made his meeting a target for anti-abortion groups. In 2003 he halted a charity program at Berkshire after some donations drew boycott threats. Buffett and his family still give to familyplanning causes.

DQ franchisees

Treats from Dairy Queen, a Berkshire holding, add to the charm of the yearly meeting. But in 2004 a move to redesign some restaurants around a “Grill & Chill” concept upset some franchisees worried about the cost. They put up a billboard on Omaha’s I-480.

Darfur

In 2007, Mia Farrow and other activists pushed Berkshire to sell holdings in PetroChina. The oil company’s parent held reserves and pipelines in Sudan, whose government was accused of supporting genocide in Darfur. Shareholders voted down the proposal.

Pollution

Protesters brought an 8-foot-tall papier-mâché asthma inhaler in 2012 to draw attention to local pollution from a rail yard that Berkshire’s BNSF unit wanted to build in California. BNSF said the terminal would cut emissions by eliminating some truck trips.

Pilots

Labor struggles have often dogged NetJets, the luxury aviation unit at Berkshire. In 2015 tensions spilled over to the annual meeting, as a few hundred pilots and family members picketed outside. By the end of last year, a new management team at NetJets reached a deal with the pilots.

Climate change

To bring attention to the issue, the Nebraska Peace Foundation, which owns one $220,340 share, wants Berkshire to disclose how climate affects its insurance subsidiaries. Climate scientist James Hansen is set to speak on behalf of the

resolution.