Social activists hijack Woolworths

Woolies will debate issuing human rights reports at its AGM after a not-for-profit group lobbed it onto the agenda.

Shoppers at a Woolworths store in Sydney. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

Woolworths’ annual general meeting could be hijacked by a not-for-profit, with the supermarket giant revealing that two resolutions put by a tiny minority of shareholders will be voted on at the gathering in late November.

In a brief release to the Australian Securities Exchange this afternoon, Woolworths (WOW) said that resolutions for consideration at the AGM had been received under section 249N of the Corporations Act from 106 Woolworths shareholders representing roughly 0.0097 per cent of shares on issue.

The first resolution is for an amendment to the Woolworths constitution that will insert a new clause allowing member resolutions at general meetings.

However, the more murky resolution to put to Woolworths shareholders in November is on human rights as it applies to the retailer’s operations and supply chains.

The Australian has been told a not-for-profit group called the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility is behind the resolutions, a self-described activist group seeking to promote “informed shareholder engagement and advocacy for more just and sustainable corporate activity.”

The ACCR has recently put forward a shareholder resolution to miner BHP Billiton (BHP) asking them to reconsider their membership with the Minerals Council of Australia as well as commission a review of its positions related to energy and climate change.

Its executive director is Brynn O’Brien who is a lawyer, with a background in human rights, global work and migration issues. She is described on the ACCR website as an expert on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The latest move marks an uptick in the activity by human rights activists and other social issues actors around publicly listed companies with an increasing number of AGMs being derailed by activists in the crowd who use small share holdings as a platform to make speeches or demand new initiatives by companies around issues of human rights, global warming, energy use and marriage equality.

A Woolworths spokeswoman declined to comment on what group was behind the resolutions but confirmed it wasn’t GetUp!

The resolution asks that the Woolworths board of directors report annually to shareholders on the company’s due diligence process for identifying, analysing and addressing potential and actual human rights impacts throughout the group’s operations.

The resolution also recommends the framing and assessment of these human rights impacts be taken from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the International Bill of Human Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also draws on other international agreements that it wants to anchor Woolworths directors to as they consider the company’s human rights impact including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The group also wants Woolworths directors to make a report on human rights impacts available to shareholders on the company’s website annually, no later than 90 days before the AGM.