Shareholder activists on both sides of the pond team up to demand “real living wage” for Boots workers

16 Jan 2024 --- A group of shareholder activists claims Boots is not paying its employees a real living wage. The Shareholder Commons says it campaigns for responsible investment and wants the UK pharma chain’s parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), to create policies with frameworks and timeframes that pay its workers “a decent wage from day one.”

Sara Murphy of the Shareholder Commons tells Personal Care Insights, “I am attending [WBA’s] annual meeting because I am required to do so to move the proposal, and I hope that investors will hear the logic of our proposition and support it, not just at Walgreens but at all companies.”

Personal Care Insights also connected with Sam Rice of ShareAction, a group working alongside the Shareholder Commons. He says this latest action is part of a broader push to increase workers’ wages.

Real living wage demand for workers
ShareAction’s website references the real living wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, which is currently at £12 (~US$15) and £13.15 (~US$16) for workers in London.

Those figures are higher than the UK government’s national minimum wage of £10.42 and national living wage of £11.44.

The group calls on “investors to use their stewardship power so that all workers receive the real living wage [and] protect our lowest-paid workers in the face of rising costs.”

ShareAction also seeks action for Walgreens’ lowest-paid workers who fall below the living wage per the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) living wage calculator.

It wants WBA to use MIT’s information to create a compensation policy that “pays a living wage to prevent contributing to inequality and racial/gender disparity.”

Shareholder Commons urges Boots to increase the pay for its employees.WBA “committed” to competitive pay
Personal Care Insights also contacted WBA, but the pharmacy chain giant says it cannot speak before the shareholder meeting. Instead, it points to the company’s proxy statement in which the board states it is “committed to providing competitive pay and meaningful benefits for all team member positions, and we have made considerable investments over the last few years to increase compensation to our team members.”

Shareholder Commons says, “[WBA] recently raised its starting wage to US$15 per hour, and its median employee was paid US$24,530 in 2022 or 0.14% of the CEO’s compensation. By comparison, the living wage in 2022 was US$25.02 per hour.”

The board counters that it paid “above the national or federal minimum wage in both the US and the UK, including significant pay raises to team members in our Boots UK workforce and completing the US minimum wage increase to US$15 per hour for our front-end team members and US$16.50 for our pharmacy technicians.”

In light of its “existing policies and initiatives,” the board “unanimously” recommends its shareholders vote against the proposal from the Shareholder Commons.

The Shareholder Commons will present its proposal next week at WBA’s annual general meeting and ask shareholders to support it.

Boots surpassed sales expectations
Personal Care Insights recently reported on the British retailer’s robust sales in its most recent quarter thanks to Black Friday shopping.

Boots posted its “biggest ever month of sales” online in November and “biggest ever day of sales on Black Friday.”

The company believes itscurrent quarter, including Christmas and New Year sales, is also shaping up to be strong. WBA will release that data as part of its fiscal second quarter report, due in March.

Will Walgreens boot Boots?
Analysts are also watching Walgreens closely to see if it will offload the UK retailer.

Two years ago, WBA tried — and failed — to sell the company. The American drugstore giant said it did not receive adequate offers due to challenging market conditions, so it scrapped plans for the sale.

By Anita Sharma

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