Nike the renowned American sportswear giant continues to face allegations against pay inequity and human rights violations with its investors voting out and rejecting pleas which would tackle the issue. Prominently the company had seen mounting pressure from two distinct activist investors to address the issues related to its suppliers.
Tulipshare one of the investors has filed a proposal for Nike’s board to look into its supply chain management and infrastructure and analyse its commitment towards human rights and pay equity. Similarly, another proposal issued by investment adviser Arjuna Capital emphasised Nike to provide more data on pay equity for female and minority workers.
Executives behind the company have denied all allegations and continue to stay firm on this stance. Investors voted against both the proposals by Tulipshare and Arjuna Capital in an annual meeting this week consequently failing to receive the required 50 per cent vote to a preliminary tally.
Adding pressure to Nike, a group of investors including ABN AMRO and CCLA Investment Management prior to the meeting requested for the company to address wage allegations reportedly amounting to US $ 2.2 million.
The issue rose after a labour rights group reported that it had lost wages following pandemic shutdowns of factories that left workers in Cambodia and Thailand without pay. Nike again denied these allegations in a statement that it had no operations with Cambodia since 2006 and had “no evidence” on owing workers in Thailand.
