Home » Employment News » Amazon board rejects motions on staff treatment and health and safety

Amazon board rejects motions on staff treatment and health and safety

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted May 27, 2022

Shareholders at Amazon have rejected 15 resolutions raised by investors aiming to influence the company's environmental impact and treatment of workers.

On Wednesday, May 25, shareholders voted against all the resolutions, the majority of which focused on worker rights and other social issues.

The resolutions included requests for the company to report on worker health and safety and warehouse worker treatment, as well as a review of Amazon's use of plastic and changes to the company's board nominations process.

Amazon's board of directors had advised shareholders to vote against all resolutions, claiming in its proxy statement the company had already taken steps to address the underlying concerns of many of the proposals.

Historically, shareholders have supported the board's recommendations.

Boss Jeff Bezos controls 12.7 percent of the total vote.

While the activist resolutions were defeated, shareholders approved executive compensation, board members, and a stock split.

Tulipshare, an activist investor group, proposed that Amazon conduct an independent audit of warehouse workers' wages and working conditions.

Despite the fact that the motion was defeated, the group intends to resubmit it next year.

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Antoine Argouges, CEO and founder of Tulipshare said: “Whilst we are disappointed that our proposal did not pass today, this vote was just the beginning in the fight for workers’ rights,”

The rise in the number of resolutions reflects the growing popularity of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing, which is encouraging more shareholders to demand corporate accountability.

Arouges added: "Based on the positive conversations we have had with major shareholders this week, we have every reason to believe our proposal received strong backing, once the results are published, we will consider our options for continuing the fight for better working conditions at Amazon.”

Next week, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, faces 17 social-justice-minded proposals, said the research firm Insighti.

Source: The Guardian

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