New York City’s five retirement-fund systems filed a shareholder proposal with Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. that would implement a company noninterference policy when employees try to unionize.
The nonbinding resolution, led by the New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, asks Chipotle’s board to adopt a noninterference policy similar to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The proposal requests that the company stay out of employee deliberations to form unions, and to collectively bargain in good faith with unions that form. The resolution also asks Chipotle to implement corporate accountability mechanisms if it breaches the policy.
Chipotle didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company’s 2023 annual meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet.
Chipotle has recently come under scrutiny for workers-rights practices. The burrito-making chain settled a lawsuit in 2022 to pay more than $20 million to New York City workers for breaching fair scheduling and sick leave policies. The company also agreed to pay $240,000 to settle charges Thursday that it closed a location in Maine following employees’ attempt to unionize at the franchise.
The resolution follows a surprise victory for labor rights advocates at Starbucks Wednesday, despite the company’s opposition. Fifty-two percent of shareholders supported a proposal that calls on Starbucks to conduct a third-party audit of its labor practices.
Several other major companies—including Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.—face similar votes this proxy season amid a recent surge in proposals.
“At a bigger-picture level, I think you can see steps that show that this corporate attention to respecting workers rights to organize is an important issue on investors minds and on public minds more broadly,” Lander told Bloomberg Law.
Lander’s coalition includes the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Fire Pension Fund, New York City Police Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System. Together, the five systems owned approximately $80 million worth of Chipotle shares, as of Jan. 31.
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