AMAZON.COM, INC. | Living Wage Disclosure at AMAZON.COM, INC.

Status
Withdrawn
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
AMZN
Lead filer
Zevin Asset Management
Co-filers
Dana Investment Advisors (Delisted)
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Decent work
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
RESOLVED
Shareholders request Amazon Inc. (the “Company”) Board of Directors to oversee the preparation of a living wage report to provide investors with information needed to assess the extent to which the Company is complying with international human rights standards and assessing systemic risks stemming from growing income inequality. The Report should be updated and published annually and include:
· Number of Amazon workers paid less than a living wage, broken down by full-time employees, part-time employees, and contingent workers;
· By how much aggregate compensation paid to workers in each category falls short of the aggregate amount they would be paid if they received a living wage; and
· The living wage benchmark/methodology used for these disclosures Amazon is not required to use a particular living wage calculator or methodology.
Supporting statement
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Income inequality slows US economic growth by reducing demand by 2 to 4 percent,1 threatening investors’ diversified portfolios by
slowing economic growth, limiting upward mobility, and exacerbating political polarization.2
A living wage is a level of compensation that is “sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and her or his family” in their location, including “food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs.”3 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “[e]veryone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity.”4 A living wage in the US is estimated as $25.02 per hour per worker for a family of four.5
In an August 2023 letter to Amazon the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights raised alleged violations of international human rights and labor rights law.6 Amazon responds7 that average hourly pay for regular frontline employees has increased to over $20.50 with starting pay ranges from $17 to $28 based on position and location. However, these averages indicate that many workers are unable to meet basic needs, increasing their reliance on government subsidies.
Additionally, Amazon hires contingent workers through staffing or vendor contracts, who report receiving fewer wages and benefits for doing the same work as direct employees and signing noncompete or arbitration clauses.8 Beyond its Supplier policy9, investors lack data on Amazon’s contracted worker wage practices, posing blind spots to decision-useful information.
Amazon does not disclose the gaps between prevailing and living wages across its workforce. Shareholders are therefore unable to assess the Company’s contribution to systemic risks created by income inequality. Inadequate pay materially reduces the intrinsic value of the global economy, impacting investment portfolios. Data shows that across counties where Amazon operates the cost of living exceeds the income required to cover basic needs.10
As one of the country’s largest employers, Amazon would benefit from a living wage gap exercise to strengthen long-term human capital management.
1 https://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation 
2 https://tiiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/TIIP-Stewardship-Final.pdf , at 2. 
3 https://www.globallivingwage.org/about/what-is-a-living-wage/ 
4 https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/english , Article 23. 
5 Living Wage Calculator (mit.edu) 
6 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=28347 
7 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/Mandates?m=21 
8 https://contractwork.techequitycollaborative.org/ 
9 https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/amazon_supply_chain_standards_english.pdf#:~:text=Wages%20and%20Benefits%20Suppliers%20are%20required%20to,manner%20that%20satisfies%20or%20exceeds%20applicable%20laws. 
10 https://livingwage.mit.edu/ 

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