SALT LAKE CITY — An unlikely crowd came together Wednesday to protest the actions of one of the country's biggest companies.

Tea party supporters, members of PETA and union retirees carried signs and raised their voices outside the Salt Palace Convention Center during General Electric's annual shareholder meeting.

"It calls into question a lot of their ethics and morals," said GE shareholder and animal rights activist Colleen Hatfield of the diversity of groups rallying against the company.

Hatfield was protesting what she called GE's lack of transparency in animal testing. "We just want the truth," she said.

Some of the tea party supporters held signs calling for the firing of General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt. One protester called Immelt "the king of crony capitalism."

Russ Walker, vice president of FreedomWorks, a pro-small government organization, said Immelt has set up GE in a way that makes it "entirely dependent" on government subsidies.

"Jeff Immelt is the picture perfect example of what you do not want in a free market," he said.

Some GE retirees with the union IUE-CWA said they showed up because they want their pensions increased.

"The cost of living for retirees keeps going up, and we keep going down on what we're getting for a pension," said Kevin Mahar, who came all the way from Massachusetts to protest. "They can well afford giving the retirees their cost of living."

Representatives from GE could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

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