CCLA Investment Management has led a group of investors backed by over $1.2trn (£1trn) under management/advice – including NEST and Storebrand – to write to Amazon expressing concerns about its workers’ rights.
This comes as reported allegations from the Coventry fulfilment centre suggest Amazon’s policies are misaligned, the letter said, flagging the online retail giant’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Core Conventions, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The letter asks Amazon to explain the company’s approach to respecting the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining and how its policies and procedures are implemented in practice at the Coventry facility.
These concerns follow legal action undertaken by GMB Union in April when it filed legal proceedings against Amazon for ‘widespread attempts to coerce staff to cancel their trade union membership’. GMB Union alleges that anti-union messages have been displayed at the fulfilment centre as well as delivered by management to staff in meetings during work time.
The investor letter follows a proposal put forward by more than 20 investors at Amazon’s AGM two weeks ago. It called for a shareholder resolution calling for a report into Amazon’s commitment to employees’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, which although did not pass, obtained under 40% of the independent shareholder vote.
Peter Hugh Smith, chief executive of CCLA, said: “As an investor in Amazon, we want to do the right thing – both by our clients who expect us to be good stewards of their capital and by Amazon’s employees.
“In light of media reports and allegations, and given two major ESG data providers have expressed concerns, questions from investors need to be answered. We want to see Amazon appoint a reputable third party to assess how they implement their human rights policies in UK fulfilment centres and to commit to rectifying any areas of non-conformance identified. The clock is ticking and it is time for Amazon to set the record straight.”
