Investors with $4.4 trillion in assets under management filed a resolution for Nike’s September 2024 shareholder meeting. This resolution, co-signed by 70 investors, was an escalation of previous resolutions, which had called on the sportswear giant to address human rights issues in their supply chains, including long-term pandemic-era wage theft.

Investors pointed to Nike’s reliance on social audits to fulfill their due diligence requirements as a key weakness, noting the widespread failure of audits to detect even egregious human rights abuses. Instead, investors called for Nike to report on how adopting Worker-driven Social Responsibility model, including signing the International Accord, would impact how the company assesses and addresses human rights in supply chains.

“Our proposal focuses on worker-driven models because we know that when a system is designed by workers and has binding commitments to ensure protections, it is then equipped to deliver meaningful outcomes and human rights protections,” Mary Beth Gallagher of Domini Impact Investments told Sourcing Journal. “We believe this best practice is the next step for Nike’s human rights program, and urge them to evaluate the benefits now.”

“It’s becoming evident that many companies like Nike are stuck in the old ways of doing human rights due diligence,” Sarah Couturier-Tanoh of the Shareholder Association for Research and Education told Bloomberg Law. “What we expect from the company is to be transparent and forceful about its approach to human rights, due diligence, and remediation in high-risk countries.”

While the resolution got higher support than in previous years, it failed to pass. As noted by ProPublica, “Every one of the 18 Nike shareholder proposals to reach a vote since at least 1996 has been rejected, according to news archives and securities filings reviewed by ProPublica and The Oregonian/OregonLive. As in past meetings, Nike’s board of directors — the majority of whom are selected by a holding company for co-founder Phil Knight’s stock — opposes this year’s measures.”