AGL rejects day off for staff joining climate strike
Power giant won’t follow Ben and Jerry’s by giving a day off to workers at Friday’s climate strike.
AGL Energy staff wanting to join Friday’s global climate strike will be required to take a day of annual leave after the power giant said it was inappropriate to follow ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s and give workers the day off.
Australia’s largest electricity generator - and biggest carbon polluter - said it was focused on keeping the lights on for consumers and noted it operates around-the-clock operations to ensure power supplies to households.
“We run a 24-hour business and in effect we need people to show up to keep the lights on,” AGL chief executive Brett Redman told the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday. “We’ve said to our staff if they wish to attend the climate protests they’d need to take a day’s annual leave.”
AGL was asked by a shareholder if they would change their position to match Ben & Jerry’s, which will close its Australian stores and pay staff to attend the march.
The power company dismissed the call, given its critical role in the market.
“Selling ice-cream isn’t really an essential service,” AGL chairman Graeme Hunt told the AGM. “Although my teenagers would very much disagree with me.”
Ben & Jerry’s has conceded it has a large carbon footprint “from cow to cone” but it’s working hard to “tread as lightly on the planet as we can”.
The ice cream maker said it couldn’t win the climate fight alone and urged adults to act as though their house was on fire.
“The truth is, if we shut down Ben & Jerry’s tomorrow, our planet would still be headed over a cliff,” it said. “If we’re committed to taking steps as individuals, we must all feel compelled to join together collectively to hold our elected leaders accountable. Since adults have been slow to act, youth are now leading this movement, and that gives us hope.”
AGL was bombarded by shareholders with dozens of questions over climate change, whether it should accelerate a move away from coal, and its commitment to help Australia meet its Paris climate targets.
The company earlier on Thursday rejected an activist push to bring forward the planned closure of its coal power plants but committed to carry out new analysis to assess how climate targets may impact its eventual coal exit plans.
