The Teamsters General Fund and CtW Investment Group are calling on the board of Amazon.com to report how the company oversees workplace safety at its facilities and those of its contractors, as safety concerns mount during the coronavirus crisis.
The direct request follows a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission allowing Amazon to exclude a shareholder proposal at its annual meeting scheduled for May 27. The investors are appealing the SEC staff decision.
The shareholder proposal urges Amazon's board of directors to prepare a report on the steps the company has taken to reduce the risk of accidents, including the board's oversight process of safety management, staffing levels, and inspection and maintenance of company facilities and equipment and those of the company's dedicated third-party contractors.
"Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, workplace safety was a major public health concern and a growing risk at the company. Particularly in light of the outbreak, Amazon should lead on transparency, not hide behind a misguided decision by the SEC staff who seem to have lost touch with the reality of frontline warehouse and grocery workers struggling to serve their communities under increasing threat to their lives," Dieter Waizenegger, executive director of the CtW Investment Group, said in a statement.
CtW Investment Group works with pension funds with more than $250 billion in combined assets. Benefit funds affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 1.4 million members, have a combined $100 billion in assets under management.
