Walmart shareholders will not get to vote on gender pay gap proposal

Thanks to a no-action letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Walmart was allowed to block a shareholder vote on a resolution that would require it to disclose any gender pay gap. The resolution was not included in the company’s proxy statement, released yesterday, which addressed its position on resolutions for the company’s annual meeting, to be held in June. A proposal that the company disclose pay of Walmart employees by gender was submitted to the company on 18 December by Cynthia Murray, who has worked for Walmart as an associate for 15 years. Murray owns almost 70 shares of the common stock and belongs to Our Walmart, a workers’ rights organization of Walmart employees that has been lobbying for higher wages, better schedules, and a right to form a union.

If her resolution had been voted on by the shareholders and passed, it would have required Walmart to disclose the proportion of men and women in each pay grade and salary range, the average hours worked by men and women and the average hourly wages of men and women.

Walmart filed a no-action letter with the SEC on 30 January, informing the SEC that it plans to exclude the resolution from the agenda “because the proposal relates to the company’s litigation strategy”. The 11-page letter filed with the SEC noted that Walmart faces a number of pending lawsuits and claims alleging gender-based discrimination in pay. Disclosing such information, the letter argued, would adversely affect the company.

In her proposal, Murray cited the lawsuits as the reason why the company should in fact disclose information about its pay. She wrote that in the face of the widespread charges, she as a shareholder was worried about “possible reputational damage” if the company fails to adopt greater transparency.

The SEC sided with Walmart.

“The SEC issued a no action letter for the proposal, so it was not included in the proxy,” Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove told the Guardian. Hargrove referred the Guardian to the statement issued in February, in which he said that Walmart stores are “a great place for women to work and advance”.

The statement went on to say:

We have a long history of providing advancement opportunities for our female associates. In fact, we have created specific training and mentoring programs to help prepare women for opportunities at all levels in our company.

In response to the decision, Murray said she sees many young mothers in her store struggling to make ends meet. “I know that Walmart can do better and my hope was that this resolution would help hold them accountable to women like me who work in their stores,” she said.

Last year, the US census bureau found that women are still making $10,800 less each year than men, earning only $0.78 to every $1 earned by a man.

“Greater pay transparency promotes a more engaged and productive workforce,” said Fatima Goss Graves, vice president of National Women’s Law Center.

“Shareholders can and should continue to hold companies accountable for adopting better pay practices which will benefit both working families and the bottom line.”

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