Trillium Engages Chipotle on Minimum Wage Reform

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
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