Axa and Scottish Widows are among the major investors supporting shareholder resolutions urging Next, M&S, and JD Sports to pledge to pay employees a “real living wage.”
More than 100 people and eight institutional investors have endorsed the campaign, which is spearheaded by the responsible investment group ShareAction.
According to The Guardian, its goal is to pressure merchants to guarantee that their workers receive at least £ 13.85 per hour (US $ 17.93) in the capital and £ 12.60 per hour (US $ 16.31) outside of it.
Nearly 818,000 retail employees in the UK are being paid less than the Living Wage Foundation’s criteria, which is used to accredit companies who fulfil it.
Axa Investment Managers, Scottish Widows, Trust for London, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, and Cardano Group are among the seven institutional investors who co-filed a resolution at Next’s annual shareholder meeting on 15th May.
According to the plan, Next must reveal the proportion of its employees and contractors who receive lower wages than the true living wage and weigh the costs and benefits of implementing it as a minimum wage.
Similar resolutions are being offered at the annual meetings of M&S and JD Sports in July. The motion at JD Sports is supported by Cardano Group, while the Friends Provident Foundation and Scottish Widows support both.
Direct employees currently receive the real living wage from M&S, but third-party contractors like security and cleaning personnel are not guaranteed to receive it.
