Amazon shareholder proposals hit record as ESG-focused investors push for change

The proposals include a request to change Amazon’s executive compensation package, an audit to ensure that its technologies are not used for human rights violations, and additional reporting of Amazon’s animal welfare standards.

Shareholders need at least 53% of votes to win, but the results are non-binding.

Amazon’s board has recommended that shareholders vote against each of the 18 proposals during its annual meeting on May 24. Last year, all of the record 15 shareholder proposals were rejected by investors’ votes.

Shareholder proposals across industries have increased since 2020, but support for them fell from 2021 to 2022, according to a PWC report.

Activist investor Tulipshare is forcing another vote this year to push for an independent report on Amazon’s warehouse safety after the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found workplace safety violations in six warehouses across the country.

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The report would detail the “impact of (Amazon’s) policies, management, performance metrics, and targets,” Tulipshare’s proposal said. Tulipshare, which owns 13 shares or about $7,000 in Amazon stock, secured 44% of investors’ votes in 2022.

Natasha Lamb, managing partner and co-founder of Arjun Capital, said the support was “pretty remarkable,” noting that she is particularly interested in Tulipshare’s proposal because “safety improvements need to be made.”

Amazon is recommending that shareholders reject Tulipshare’s proposal, saying the company continually works to improve “safety processes, programs, and technology.”

Amazon said in its proxy it has been transparent in disclosing its workforce incident rates along with industry data through its “Delivered with Care” report. The company is investing about $550 million in safety initiatives this year.

Arjun Capital’s proposal for Amazon to report on median pay gaps across race and gender received 22% of votes in 2022 and has been refiled and posted for this year’s proxy vote.

Amazon is also asking investors to reject the proposal, saying that its women employees in the US and overseas earn at least 99 cents to the dollar of male workers’ pay and that racial minority workers are paid at similar rates.