Farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers were joined in Midtown by New York City elected officials, national shareholder advocates and area supporters for a large rally and street theater performance outside the offices of Trian Partners ( 280 Park Avenue), Wendy’s largest institutional shareholder. They demanded that Wendy’s board be held accountable for her failure to join the award-winning Fair Food program and address the modern slavery crisis in North American agriculture. The delegation also visited the main investors of Wendy’s, BlackRock and JP Morgan. Support for the VOTE NO campaign, led by Investor Advocates for Social Justice (IASJ) and Majority Action, has increased significantly ahead of Wendy’s annual meeting later this month. At the end of the day on Wednesday, we learned some big news from influential players in the financial community:
- A vote AGAINST Nelson Peltz, along with the other members of Wendy’s Board of Directors nominated by the IASJ and Majority Action, cast by the New York Retirement Systems, which holds over $263 billion in assets (as of March 2022 )
- A recommendation from leading proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis asking shareholders to vote AGAINST Wendy’s board chairman Nelson Peltz to hold him “accountable for the board’s inaction on this issue »
- An AFL-CIO recommendation for investors to make voting against Nelson Peltz a “key voting” priority for the 2022 proxy season
These votes are a massive escalation in the growing wave of support from major investors for a shareholder-led initiative calling for votes against Wendy’s board chairman (and Trian CEO) Nelson Peltz and three other directors in light of Wendy’s failure to respond adequately to a 2021 majority vote on a shareholder resolution on protecting workers in her food supply chain. The 2021 resolution was supported by over 95% of Wendy’s shareholders. Learn more here!
