Amazon’s shareholder proposals hit a record for the second year in a row

E-commerce giant Amazon faces 18 shareholder proposals, surpassing its 2022 record of 15, as environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investors push for more changes at the company, according to Amazon’s proxy statement released on Thursday.

The proposals cover a range of topics, including a request to change Amazon’s executive compensation package, an audit to ensure Amazon’s technologies are not being used to abuse human rights, and additional reporting on Amazon’s animal welfare standards.

Shareholders need at least 53% of the vote to win. However, the results are not binding, and Amazon’s board is not required to move forward with the proposals.

The number of shareholder proposals in various industries has increased since 2020. However, according to the PWC report, support for these proposals decreased from 2021 to 2022.

Activist investor Tulipshare is pushing for a second vote this year, hoping to get the e-tailer to produce an independent report on the safety of its warehouses after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found safety violations at six warehouses across the country.

The report would detail the impact of “(Amazon’s) policies, management, performance metrics and goals,” according to Tulipshare’s proposal. Tulipshare received 44 percent of investors’ votes in 2022.

Tulipshare owns 13 shares, or about $7,000 worth of Amazon stock.

Natasha Lamb, managing director and founder of Arjun Capital, said she was particularly interested in Tulipshare’s proposal because “security needs to be improved”.

He said that the company getting 44% of the vote in 2022 was “pretty remarkable”.

Arjun Capital’s proposal for Amazon to report median pay gaps between race and gender won 22 percent of the vote in 2022 and has been revised and released for this year’s proxy vote.

Amazon’s board has recommended that shareholders vote against all 18 proposals. Last year, all of the record 15 shareholder proposals were rejected by investor votes.

Although Amazon has a record number of proposals on the ballot this year, this is not the majority of proposals submitted to the company by shareholders. Amazon may challenge the proposals with the Securities Exchange Commission or negotiate with investors to submit audits and reports outside of the annual meeting.

The proposals will be voted on at Amazon’s annual meeting on May 24.

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