On the go: The £38bn Brunel Pension Partnership, which handles assets of 10 UK Local Government Pension Scheme funds, has co-filed a resolution calling for the introduction of the living wage at supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.
The UK’s second-largest supermarket, which directly employs 189,000 people, is the subject of a shareholder action by a coalition comprising 10 institutional investors worth £2.2tn and 108 individual shareholders organised by campaign group Share Action, according to a statement on Brunel’s website.
The resolution calls on Sainsbury’s to accredit as a living wage employer by July 2023.
“This was already an urgent issue and current global events mean that urgency is increasing by the week,” said Laura Chappell, chief executive at Brunel Pension Partnership.
“Food prices and energy bills are increasingly unsustainable for many of the lowest-paid employees, but companies like Sainsbury’s have the wherewithal to appropriately compensate a large number of key workers providing an example for others to follow. As for the financial sense of making the change, it is telling that investors representing £2tn in assets are requesting this change,” she continued.
“Sainsbury's reported strong results in January but one in three of its staff report they regularly worry about putting food on the table,” the statement read.
The partnership noted that it is the duty of responsible investors to manage these risks by setting minimum standards for corporate conduct, such as living wage accreditation.
The resolution will be voted on at the company’s annual meeting in July 2022.
This article originally appeared on MandateWire.com
