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Union boss questions Amazon’s public contracts

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Union boss questions Amazon's public contracts
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Amazon workers in Coventry narrowly rejected union recognition in July

Amazon should be at risk of losing taxpayer-funded contracts if it fails to “treat workers with respect”, a union boss has said.

GMB general secretary Gary Smith accused the online giant of using “despicable” tactics to stop workers at its Coventry base from unionising.

In July, the union announced that 49.5% of Amazon workers at the site voted in favour of union recognition – falling just short of the required majority.

Amazon has been approached for a response, but has previously said it had “always worked hard” to listen to employees, “act on their feedback, and invest heavily in great pay, benefits and skills development”.

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Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday, Mr Smith questioned how it could be right for the company to receive more than £1bn in public contracts in the past year.

“The tactics used by this company to try and union-bust have been despicable and our members will keep up the fight, but government has to step up too,” he said.

“Our Labour government needs to be clear with Amazon: if you want to keep trousering hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash, they need to treat workers with respect.”

‘Make work pay’

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Steve Garelick, delegate for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Constituency Labour Party, said procurement money needed to be focused on companies that support workers’ rights, specifically on safety and access to unions.

He told the conference: “It is essential that we ensure this money is spent wisely and it’s used to support businesses that provide good working conditions for their employees.”

At the conference, GMB moved a motion calling for the government to “fully partner” with trade unions to “co-design” Labour’s plans to “make work pay”.

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Japan, Tokyo governments target $4.7 bln valuation for Tokyo Metro in IPO

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Tokyo Metro

Business & FinanceEconomy

Reuters exclusively reported that Japan’s national and Tokyo governments are seeking a 700 billion yen ($4.7 billion) valuation for Tokyo Metro as they prepare to list the subway operator as early as October-end, in what would be the nation’s biggest IPO in roughly six years. The two governments, which own 100% of Tokyo Metro, plan to arrange a meeting of brokerages within a week for a briefing on the IPO and expect to receive approval for the listing from the Tokyo Stock Exchange as soon as mid-September, the sources said.  

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Market Impact

With half the company to be sold, the initial public offering could raise 350 billion yen at that valuation, which would exceed the size of Kokusai Electric’s IPO last year and become the largest since SoftBank Group listed its wireless unit in 2018. 

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Type: Reuters Best

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Sectors: Business & FinanceEconomy & Policy

Regions: Asia

Countries: Japan

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Customer Impact: Significant National Story

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IPAW 2024 kicks off with IP seminar for advisers

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IPAW 2024 kicks off with IP seminar for advisers

Income Protection Awareness Week (IPAW 2024) kicked off today (23 September) with a seminar for advisers exploring the current income protection (IP) market.

The awareness week is being organised by the Income Protection Task Force (IPTF) to raise the profile and grow sales of IP products.

The week will comprise a series of online keynotes, panel debates, case studies and presentations and will tackle various themes across income protection.

Today’s session looked at the case for income protection and what advisers are seeing in the market and in client conversations.

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It also looked at how advisers include IP in their advice process and the impact that consumer duty has had on adviser behaviour.

Jo Miller, co-chair, IPTF, said the IP market has seen a rise in sales, with a record number of sales on advice.

However, she urged the sector to keep up the momentum as more work needed to be done.

The adviser panel – consisiting of Mike Douglas, protection specialist, Woodside Financial Services, Nina Brown, protection specialist at Pam Brown Mortgages, and Hannah Murray, financial adviser, St. James’s Place Protection Planning – expressed similar sentiments.

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For his part, Douglas urged advisers to make the IP advice process simple by explaining the benefits and pitfalls of not having IP cover.

Meanwhile, research from protection and employee benefits provider MetLife UK has found that while one in five (20%) consumers see the benefit of financial protection, 12% don’t understand the difference between the various offerings.

The study, published today, found one in ten (9%) customers admitted they only thought about financial protection once it was too late and they needed to claim.

MetLife said IPAW provides the chance for advisers to talk to clients and review what protection they do and don’t have in place.

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Some investors demand change at LVMH after probe into Dior contractors 

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The logo of LVMH is seen during the annual shareholders meeting of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in Paris, France, April 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

Business & Finance

Reuters exclusively reported that Europe’s top asset manager Amundi and other LVMH investors want the $370 billion luxury behemoth to take more aggressive steps to monitor its suppliers’ treatment of workers after Italian prosecutors disclosed alleged sweatshop-like conditions at subcontractors for high-end brand Dior.

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The investigation into suppliers for LVMH’s second-largest fashion label, which Reuters revealed on June 11, has shone a spotlight on potential worker exploitation in the $1.6 trillion global luxury goods industry.

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Type: Reuters Best

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Sectors: Business & Finance

Regions: Europe

Win Types: Exclusivity

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Customer Impact: Important Regional Story

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California accuses Exxon of misleading public on plastic recycling

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California has filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil alleging it falsely promoted the recyclability of plastic, becoming the first US state seeking to hold an oil major accountable for plastic pollution.

The lawsuit alleges Exxon, one of the world’s largest producers of plastic, deceived the public for half a century about the sustainability of its plastic products. The lawsuit seeks damages from the oil group for harms inflicted from plastic production. 

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“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” said California attorney-general Rob Bonta in a statement. “ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardising our health.”

Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The allegations arrive as plastics play a growing role in supporting oil demand and as the UN prepares to broker in late November the world’s first binding agreement to cut plastics pollution in South Korea, a deal that has been likened to the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Global consumption of plastic, a primary driver of petrochemicals demand, is expected to triple by 2060, according to the OECD, reaching 1.3bn tonnes. China was the largest producer of plastics last year, surpassing North America by a slim margin, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. 

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The International Energy Agency cites the petrochemicals sector as the “single largest contributor” to oil demand growth for the next four years as the electrification of power and transport sectors curb the global thirst for crude. The plastics industry is expected to make up 10 per cent of global emissions by mid-century, up from 5 per cent in 2019, according to a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

California’s lawsuit against Exxon follows the investigation it launched into the fossil fuel and petrochemicals sectors and their role in plastic pollution in 2022. A group of non-profit organisations including Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation filed a similar lawsuit on Monday targeting Exxon for misleading claims about its plastics business. 

State and local governments are increasing efforts to hold companies accountable for plastic waste. Earlier this year, New York attorney-general Letitia James sued PepsiCo, demanding the food and drinks company reduce its plastic pollution and pay for damages. 

Developing countries, environmentalists and businesses have called for a limit on plastic production to be included in the final UN plastics treaty expected by the end of the year, arguing that relying on waste management solutions such as recycling were inadequate. 

Karen McKee, head of Exxon’s product solutions business, told the Financial Times earlier this year that a limit on production would not solve the pollution problem and that UN negotiators needed to be “open-minded” about solutions. 

Exxon produced 11.2mn metric tonnes of polyethylene last year and operates a chemical recycling plant for plastic in Baytown, Texas.

About 10 per cent of all plastic is recycled, according to the OECD, which estimates investment in recycling must reach $1tn by 2040, up from less than $20bn today. 

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Bank of America: Luxury consumer is 'all tapped out'

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Bank of America: Luxury consumer is 'all tapped out'

CNBC’s Robert Frank reports on news from luxury shoppers.

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First Quantum plans maintenance for Panama copper mine amid protests 

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FILE PHOTO: View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aris Martínez/File Photo

Business & FinanceEnergyEnvironment

Reuters exclusively reported that Canada’s First Quantum Minerals was considering putting its key Panama copper miner on care and maintenance from Nov. 23, effectively shutting production at a mine that accounts for about 1% of global output. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the move follows protests that blocked coal from reaching First Quantum’s plant. Supply concerns at First Quantum’s Panama contributed to copper prices jumping to two-month highs traders said while First Quantum shares extended fall to drop as much as 5.7% on the news. 

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Supply concerns at First Quantum’s Panama contributed to copper prices jumping to two-month highs traders said while First Quantum shares extended fall to drop as much as 5.7% on the news.

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Type: Reuters Best

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Sectors: Business & FinanceCommodities & Energy

Regions: North America

Win Types: Exclusivity

Story Types: Exclusive / Scoop

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Customer Impact: Important Regional Story

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