Workers’ Rights Targeted by Shareholder Proposals at 2023 AGMs

Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) have 37 worker rights proposals on the proxies of 30 companies that will be voted on during the 2023 AGM season. The shareholder proposals centre on worker health and safety, paid sick leave, wages and equity, freedom of association, and workplace sexual harassment. The ICCR said the proposals aim to “collectively reinforce long-standing worker concerns investors say have contributed to persistent and systemic inequities”. The largest sets of proposals include six calling for paid sick leave to be a standard benefit, 15 highlighting wage inequities as a systemic issue and a portfolio risk, and eight centring on workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Companies receiving shareholder proposals include Amazon, Dollar General, Starbucks, Uber, Union Pacific and Walmart. Nadira Narine, Senior Program Director for Strategic Initiatives at the ICCR, said: “When workers aren’t given a seat at the table or respected as valuable corporate stakeholders, racial and economic disparities become more intractable and systemic which threatens everyone.”

 

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