Amazon shareholders vote against socially-focussed resolutions

May 27, 2022

On May 25th 2022, 15 investor-led resolutions, that took aim at company policies ranging from mistreatment of workers to nondisclosure agreements, failed to pass after the majority of Amazon shareholders voted against them. The resolutions were non-binding.

Amazon's board had recommended its shareholders vote against all 15 resolutions, claiming that it had already undertaken steps to address concerns of the proposals. Traditionally, the majority shareholders have voted in line with board recommendations.

Socially focused investors are taking a closer look at Amazon's policies regarding workers and worker conditions. As a result, resolutions regarding transparency of working conditions to unionisation were on the table at its most recent AGM. The failure to pass these resolutions is a blow to activist investors and unions.

For some at the meeting, this result signals that Amazon's key investors seem to pay more attention to the impact of climate and environmental matters compared to the social issues faced by the company. Yet, it does not seem to have deterred the proponents of the resolution.

"While we are disappointed that our proposal did not pass today, this vote is just the beginning in the fight for workers' rights." said Antoine Argues, CEO and Founder of Tulipshare. Tulipshare had called on Amazon to conduct an independent audit of warehouse workers' wages. Although their vote did not pass, the group plans to resubmit its motion the following year.

For any investor aiming to bring strong change, there is imperative to get board buy-in. Jeff Bezos, the executive chairman at Amazon, holds almost 13% of the voting stock. This story follows Amazon's resistance to include ESG in financial disclosures last proxy season when it wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warning of the complexity and potential legal risk.