DECEMBER 4, 2015 // BOSTON, MA: Trillium Asset Management, on behalf of our client The Congregational Council of Plymouth Church UCC of Seattle, recently filed a shareholder proposal at Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) urging the Board of Directors to “adopt principles for minimum wage reform, to be published by October 2016”.
As public protests and commentary about income inequality steadily grows, Americans have become increasingly aware of the problem of low wages and economic inequality. For that reason, we believe that companies need to speak up in support of a minimum standard of living necessary for the health and general well-being of workers and their families; and a minimum wage that is indexed to maintain its ability to support a minimum standard of living.
This issue is particularly concerning at Chipotle because an August 2015 Reuters report pointed out that Chipotle pays its leadership “more than a thousand times what they pay their typical worker, giving them [one of] the biggest internal pay gaps among S&P 500 companies.”
Earlier this year, Trillium publicly announced its support for an initiative by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage calling for an increase in the minimum wage to at least $12.00 by 2020. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which is equivalent to $15,080 per year at 40 hours of paid work each week, 52 weeks a year. This number is below the federal poverty line of $15,930 for a family of two.
With this shareholder proposal, we look forward to bringing investors into this national debate.
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For more information: Randy Rice, Trillium Asset Management, rrice@trilliuminvest.com, 617-515-6889
Important disclosure: The information provided in this material should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell the security mentioned. It should not be assumed that investments in such security has been or will be profitable. To the extent a specific security is mentioned, it was selected by the authors on an objective basis to illustrate views expressed in the commentary and it does not represent all of the securities purchased, sold or recommended for advisory clients. The information contained herein has been prepared from sources believed reliable but is not guaranteed as to its timeliness or accuracy, and is not a complete summary or statement of all available data. This piece is for informational purposes and should not be construed as a research report.
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