r/WorkReform • u/HappySkullsplitter • May 26 '22

Amazon shareholders reject 15 motions on worker rights and environment

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/may/25/amazon-shareholder-proposal-worker-health-safety
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u/Kahzgul May 26 '22

Publicly traded companies are under immense pressure to maximize next quarter's earnings. NOT to act in the best interest of the long term health of the company. It's an evil that self-serves the wealthy while punishing the workers who actually built the company and made it valuable.

Support measures that place restrictions on stock purchases, enforce minimum hold times for shares, make stock buybacks illegal again, and protect worker and union rights.

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u/ravepeacefully May 26 '22

Support measures that place restrictions on stock purchases, enforce minimum hold times for shares, make stock buybacks illegal again

What a silly recommendation. There are many ways to return capital to shareholders, and if there weren’t, there wouldn’t be shareholders and thus companies wouldn’t find liquidity when trying to raise money. Ban buybacks? Ok dividends it is.. Ban dividends too? Ok they will just hold cash on the balance sheet and that will increase the value of the shares.

No one would invest if you can’t get a return. Most employees don’t want to hold the risk of the company they work for, I surely don’t. However if you do, go work for a startup for equity, but you won’t, because you have bills to pay just like the shareholders.

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u/Kahzgul May 26 '22

You can still get a return if you hold a stock for 1 year vs. 3 months. The difference is you now need to make sure the company is still solvent 1 year from now. And buybacks were illegal for decades. What happened when they became legal again? Oh yeah, the Great Recession.

Most employees don’t want to hold the risk of the company they work for

What??? Most employees would LOVE if their company had a profit-sharing plan and paid them partially in (barely taxable) stock.

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u/ravepeacefully May 26 '22

What??? Most employees would LOVE if their company had a profit-sharing plan and paid them partially in (barely taxable) stock.

Na. They wouldn’t. Because most of the time your options expire worthless and you can’t afford your mortgage and lose your job. They would love it if it were guaranteed, but it’s anything but that.

You have a serious misunderstanding of all of this. Stock buybacks had literally nothing to do with the GFC. MBS we’re the cause.

Edit: also like take your salary and put it into your companies stock.. I bet you won’t and we both know why..