Walmart, Inc | Workplace Safety Policy Assessment - Gun Violence at Walmart Stores, Inc

Status
Filed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
WMT
Lead filer
United for Respect
Resolution ask
Conduct due diligence, audit or risk/impact assessment
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Conflict and/or violence
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
RESOLVED:
Shareholders urge Walmart Inc. (“Walmart” or the “Company”) to conduct a third-party, independent review of the impact of Company policies and practices on workplace safety and violence, including gun violence. A report on the review, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, should be published on Walmart’s website. At company discretion, the proponents recommend the audit and report include: (1) Evaluation of management and business practices that contribute to an unsafe or violent work environment, including staffing capacity and the introduction of new technologies; and (2) Recommendations that will help Walmart create safer work environments and prevent workplace violence.
Supporting statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT:
Unsafe working conditions at Walmart and the broader retail industry are under increasing scrutiny.1 Walmart employees have raised serious concerns about workplace safety issues including unsafely stacked products, organized theft, and threats of physical assault and/or gun violence from customers and co-workers.2
Incidents of workplace violence, particularly gun violence, have become too common at Walmart. Between July 1, 2020 and November 22, 2022 there were at least 363 gun incidents and 112 gun deaths at Walmart.3 In 2023, there was a violent or gun related incident at Walmart reported in the news every single month. As recent as November 23, 2023, a gunman with racist ideologies opened fire at a Walmart in Ohio injuring four people before committing suicide. This incident is reminiscent of the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas where a white supremacist gunned down 23 people and injured 22 others in a hate fueled rampage.4
Gun violence is an unprecedented public health crisis with substantial human and financial costs. Harvard researchers estimate that gun violence costs the United States $557 billion annually and that “employers and their health insurers sustain a substantial financial burden from firearm injuries and have a financial incentive to prevent them.”5
State policymakers recognize the urgency of addressing workplace violence. In September, California enacted the nation’s first general industry workplace prevention safety requirement for employers. Senate Bill 533, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, requires virtually every employer in the state of California to take steps to prevent and/or respond to workplace violence by having employers develop workplace violence prevention plans.6
Failure to effectively address workplace safety and violence exposes stakeholders, including employees, to unacceptable harms and exposes Walmart to financial, reputational, and legal risks.
As a 24 year Walmart Associate, I am personally invested in keeping myself and my co-workers safe at work. I am asking Walmart to evaluate how its practices may be contributing to an unsafe or violent work environment and to review existing workplace safety and violence prevention plans to ensure they adequately protect the health, safety, and lives of Walmart Associates.
I ask my fellow shareholders to vote yes for this proposal.
1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2023/10/17/danger-in-the-store-retail-crime--makes-everyone-a-potential-victim/
2 https://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-parts-of-working-retail-walmart-target-employees-2023-5
3 https://www.gunsdownamerica.org/new-research-shows-gun-violence-is-serious-threat-at-grocery-stores/
4 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/25/mass-shooting-el-paso-walmart-pay-5-million/70964010007/
5 https://time.com/6217348/gun-violence-economic-costs-us/
6 https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/california-workplace-violence-law.aspx

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