the [fishing] company claims it cannot afford to pay workers the living wage, which is due to increase to $21.15 in September. … Moana New Zealand has reported a net profit after tax of $21.4 million for the year ending 30th September 2018.
Nitin Khanna who do we blame for them being able to declare such profits while lying that they can’t pay a living wage? Is the company public? Can we blame Wall St for their toxic culture of always chasing numbers?
Miraz Jordan @nitinkhanna I think we blame the shareholders who allow the directors or whoever to decide that profit trumps workers.
Nitin Khanna but who owns most of the shares? Real people or investment firms/banks? Most of the time it’s institutional investors who care more about profits than people.
Miraz Jordan @nitinkhanna That'd be true and I guess one reason why ethical investments are starting to be a bit of a thing. In the case of the company in the story I linked to, it's a Māori Iwi and I guess the profits will go to the tribe (iwi), perhaps. I'm not very clear on exactly who benefits, but nevertheless, workers should get a wage they can live on from any business out to make a profit.
Nitin Khanna it would be nice if the profits go to the tribe. But sometimes the management firms take a hefty cut. Or the name is just a cover for a corporate entity. Here’s hoping things improve for their workers.