SCHEDULE 14A
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Filed by the Registrant [ ]
Filed by a Party Other than the Registrant [X ]
Check the appropriate box:
[ ] Preliminary Proxy Statement
[ ] Definitive Proxy Statement
[ ] Definitive Additional Materials
[X] Soliciting Material Pursuant to Section 240.14a-11(c) or Section
240.14a-12
Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter:
Briggs & Stratton Corp.
Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement:
Wisconsin Coalition for Responsible Investment
Payment of Filing Fee (check the appropriate box)
[X] $125 per Exchange Act Fules 0-11(c)(1)(ii), 14a-6(i)(1), or
14a-6(j)(2).
[ ] $500 per each party to the controversy pursuant to Exchange Act
Rule 14a-6(i)(3).
[ ] Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(4)
and 0-11.
1) Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies:
______________________________________________________
2) Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies:
______________________________________________________
3) Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed
pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11: (1)
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4) Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction:
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(1) Set forth the amount on which the filing fee is calculated
and state how it was determined.
[ ] Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange
Act Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting
fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration
statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.
1) Amount previously paid:
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Date Filed: _____________
<PAGE>
PRESS RELEASE
WISCONSIN COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT
BRIGGS & STRATTON FACES PROXY CONTEST IN BOARD OF
DIRECTORS ELECTION; COMPANY SUED IN FEDERAL COURT OVER
UPCOMING SHAREHOLDERS MEETING
For more info, contact:
Mark Brooks
(615) 834-8590
Briggs & Stratton is facing an insurgent campaign seeking to
elect William P. Dixon to the company Board of Directors. Dixon
is a former Wisconsin Bank Commissioner, Chief of Staff to
Senator Gary Hart and alternate U.S. director of the World Bank.
Dixon's backers include the Wisconsin Coalition for Responsible
Investment (WICRI), a group of religious organizations, and the
United Paperworkers International Union, which represents Briggs
employees, many of whom are also shareholders. Dixon has
criticized the incumbent board's recent decision to spend over
$117 million to relocate thousands of jobs from Wisconsin to new
facilities to be built in southern states. "If elected, I will
press the company to enhance shareholder value by working with
its workers, not against them," Dixon said.
In a related matter, employee-shareholder Joseph Chambers sued
Briggs in federal court in Milwaukee last week for violating
federal securities law. The statute requires that company proxy
statements disclose all material facts. The company's proxy
omits any mention that a candidate is running in opposition to
the current board's nominees, even though the company had been
notified by Dixon's candidacy weeks before issuing its proxy. A
hearing has been set for September 27 before Senior Judge Myron
Gordon.
Chambers stated, "The proxy statement gives shareholders the
false impression that this directors election will just be
'business as usual.' It won't."
The coalition backing Dixon also urges shareholder approval of
several corporate governance reforms, such as ending golden
parachutes for top executives and ending the company's poison-
pill device to avoid takeovers. "In my opinion, there is
something obscene about Briggs' top officers awarding themselves
lucrative 'golden parachutes' while spending millions of
shareholder dollars to move thousands of jobs from its existing
plants," said Dixon.
"We believe the companies which will prosper in the future will
be those that promote cooperative labor-management relations,"
stated Father Michael Crosby, chairman of WICRI. "We urge Briggs
& Stratton shareholders to elect an independent director who will
insist the company treat its workers with respect instead of like
so many replaceable parts."
A copy of the WICRI proxy statement will be made available upon
request.
