ENGAGEMENT
ACTION

In late 2021, SHARE filed two proposals, at Scotiabank and National Bank of Canada, regarding the alignment of the banks’ strategies with the Paris Accord and a 1.5°C scenario. The proposals were filed on behalf of the Trottier Family Foundation and Stephen Whipp Financial, respectively.

“The role of bank lending decisions is among the most important, and least well-understood, levers available to accelerate climate transition,” says Jennifer Story, Associate Director of Climate Advocacy.

Canadian banks have lagged behind their global peers in terms of their climate action, and have been widely criticized for their continued role in financing high-emitting projects. “In the past year, we have started to see Canadian banks play catch-up to their European peers. I am hopeful that their late start will provide Canadian banks an opportunity to move into a leadership position.”

According to Schein, the agreement provides a road map for the kinds of actions others can take.

Since 2021, SHARE has worked with allied investors in the United States to ask companies to undertake “racial equity audits”.

During the 2021 proxy season, investors submitted shareholder proposals at the six largest U.S. financial institutions, calling on each firm to conduct a racial equity audit “that identifies, prioritizes, and remedies the adverse impacts of the bank’s policies and practices on non-white stakeholders and communities of color.”

By Jennifer Story

For many years, responsible investors and climate change activists alike have lamented that Canada never seemed quite willing enough to flex its muscles to reduce emissions.

Would Canada ever be able to meet its emissions reductions targets? Would investor action be enough to make a difference? Issuers frequently pointed to the absence of policy framework and direction as an excuse to not take sufficient action—and, in order to shift the conversation from “if” to “how”, we needed caps on emissions to frame investor-issuer dialogue.

At first blush, it looks like today may be a day for cautious optimism. The federal release of its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan burned up computer screens across the country as analysts scoured the 250-page plus document for the hard truths that meeting our 2030 targets must entail.

Here is our preliminary breakdown of highlights that fit the bill:

Oil and Gas Targets and Caps

The plan sets targets by sector—including oil and gas, the largest sectoral emitter—which now must contribute a reduction of 31 percent below 2005 levels. The plan points to “increasing stringency in measures to accelerate and deepen emissions reductions, including caps.”

In addition, oil and gas-related methane emissions must be reduced by 75 percent by 2030.

The story of the successful unionization drive at a Staten Island, New York Amazon fulfillment centre will be the stuff of future myth-making.

A fired worker, Chris Smalls, described by company executives in leaked emails as “not very smart or articulate” comes back to lead the first ever successful unionization of a North American Amazon facility, by a commanding margin. The company spends more than $4 million USD on “union avoidance” consultants, while the independent Amazon Labour Union pulls off a victory with support of crowd-sourced fundraising, and the home cooking of organizers and their families.

As of early April, a re-vote, ordered by the National Labor Relations Board, for workers at the company’s Bessemer, Alabama facility was still too close to call.

The decline of private sector unionization in North America has been a pre-occupation for union leaders and some policymakers since the 1990s, as decreased “union density” has tracked alongside increased measures of inequality (including by race and gender), and decreases in wages and benefits. Researchers point to many factors to explain the decline – including lost manufacturing jobs, regulatory changes and public opinion. One contributor to the decline is the emphasis that companies have placed on “union avoidance” – an industry estimated by the U.S. Economic Policy Institute to be worth $340 million USD. “Not only is ‘union avoidance’ hugely profitable for consultants, some of the tactics employed may run afoul of Canadian and international standards, including the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,” said Anthony Schein, Director of Shareholder Advocacy at SHARE. Commonly identified tactics include “captive audience” meetings. At Amazon, it was widely reported that the company sent text messages to employees encouraging a “no” vote, and even posted anti-union messages in bathroom stalls.

SHARE has had recent engagements with Amazon and NFI Inc (formerly New Flyer), both focused on how these companies uphold international standards.

According to Schein, “Investment risks exist when there is a disconnect between a company’s stated approach to labour rights and what happens in practice.” Companies like Amazon and Starbucks have faced a torrent of unionization efforts – and negative media attention to go along with it.