Retail companies hear proposals on sweatshop issues

Hudson’s Bay Co. has committed the company to looking at ways to improve monitoring of its suppliers following a shareholder proposal calling on the company to adopt International Labour Organization principles.

The shareholder proposal received 15.2% of the votes cast, a strong showing for the first vote on a proposal of this kind at the company.  Shareholders expressed confidence that these results will motivate the company to take steps to address vendor standards before the next annual meeting. 

“We are very pleased with the results of the vote,” said Peter Chapman, Executive Director of the Shareholder Association for Research and Education. “It sends a strong message to the Bay management that shareholders want the company to take further steps to address seriously the issue of sweatshop labour.”

The shareholder proposal was submitted by Working Enterprises Ltd., Regime complementaire de retrait du Syndicat des Pompier du Quebec (Section Locale LaSalle/Verdun) and the Canadian Labour Congress Staff Pension Plan.

A vote on an identical proposal at the Sears Canada shareholder meeting on April 17 received 10.2% of shareholder support. 

In response to the proposal, George Heller, President and CEO of Hudson’s Bay, committed the company to review its labour standards monitoring program and support the continuation of discussions with government and unions aimed at creating a sector-wide code.

For more information, see SHARE.

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