Amazon hasn’t received much pushback from its shareholders. After all, the retail giant’s stock has increased sixfold in the last five years, making investors plenty of money. That doesn’t mean the company’s annual shareholder meetings have been controversy-free, but the wave of criticism Amazon faced this year in the form of shareholder resolutions is unprecedented. Investors voted on 12 of the proposals Wednesday, and while they all failed to get a majority vote, they highlight issues that some shareholders believe could jeopardize Amazon’s business for years to come. The proposals, which would have been nonbinding if passed, sought changes from Amazon on a range of issues, from sexual harassment to hate speech. Two concerned the company’s controversial facial recognition technology. Perhaps the most notable proposal, which addressed climate change and the company’s environmental impact, came from Amazon’s own employees. Over 7,600 of them signed onto a letter asking Amazon to adopt the resolution—a unique twist on a wider trend of tech employees pushing back on their companies’ business practices. “It’s really hard to be motivated when you feel like you’re contributing to a problem instead of addressing it,” Rebecca Sheppard, a senior product manager at Amazon and one of the letter’s signatories, said before Wednesday. “I’m really hopeful that we get what’s missing, which is leadership from the very top of the company to support this.” After the meeting, a tweet from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice suggested that wasn’t the case yet. To view the full article visit Wired.
