(Recasts with pay strike)
By Sonali Paul
MELBOURNE, May 6 (Reuters) - A majority of Rio Tinto's
shareholders rejected the global miner's
executive pay packages on Thursday, in a backlash over its
destruction last year of ancient rock shelters in Western
Australia.
Rio Tinto blasted 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Juukan
Gorge last May to expand an iron ore mine, sparking
condemnation from investors, politicians and the wider
community.
Following the company's Australian annual meeting, Rio Tinto
said more than 60% of votes cast by investors in the
Anglo-Australian dual-listed company were against its
remuneration report.
"This constitutes a 'first strike'," the company said.
In Australia, if a company's executive pay package is
rejected two years in a row, the board could face a vote to be
removed.
"The Board acknowledges that the executive pay outcomes in
relation to the tragic events at Juukan Gorge are sensitive and
contentious issues," it said in a statement with the vote
results.
Widespread anger at the destruction of the caves cost the
jobs of its chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two other
senior leaders and led Chairman Simon Thompson to flag he would
step down in 2022.
(Reporting by Shruti Sonal in Bengaluru; Editing by
Ramakrishnan M., Kirsten Donovan)
Rio Tinto (RIO)
