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Sainsbury’s has announced that its shareholders have rejected a motion to introduce the real living wage by July. The vote received 16.7%, far below the required 75% needed in order to pass.
In a statement the grocer said: “The board firmly believes the company must preserve the right to make independent business decisions which are not determined by an external organisation and therefore did not support resolution 21”.
Investors voted against the special resolution at its annual general meeting earlier today, July 8, co-ordinated by non-profit group ShareAction. Sainsbury’s hadn’t extended its commitment to its subcontracted staff, such as cleaners and security guards.
Martin Scicluna, chairman of Sainsbury’s, said: “We are proud to have led the way on colleague pay in our industry for the past five years and to pay our colleagues the living wage regardless of where they work in the country.
“We would like to thank our shareholders for their overwhelming votes of support and confidence in how Simon and his team are running the business. We believe very strongly in paying people well for the excellent job they do for our customers every single day.”
He added: “We also believe that we need to make all business investment decisions independently and that these decisions should not be outsourced to a third party.”
