Schultz to testify before Senate after Sanders pressure

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has agreed to testify before a Senate committee after weeks of a standoff between him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), setting up a showdown over the coffee giant’s anti-union practices.

Sanders announced Schultz’s decision to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday — ahead of a planned vote Wednesday to subpoena the executive after he previously declined an offer to speak to the panel. 

Sanders, a progressive lawmaker who has long voiced support for labor unions, has aggressively pursued testimony from the Starbucks head, as the coffee giant has faced federal repercussions for anti-union activity.

Earlier this month a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Starbucks committed “egregious and widespread” violations of federal law in its campaign to halt unions.

“Let’s be clear. In America, workers have the constitutional right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining to improve their wages and working conditions,” Sanders said in a statement. “Unfortunately Starbucks, under Mr. Schultz’s leadership, has done everything possible to prevent that from happening.”

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A Starbucks spokesperson also confirmed the plans to The Hill. The company said in a letter to the committee that Schultz has agreed to testify on March 29. 

“Through the agreement reached today, our testimony will seek to foster a better understanding of our partner-first culture and priorities, including our industry leading benefit offerings and our long-standing commitment to support the shared success of all partners,” the company said in a statement on its website.

Starbucks leadership has rebuked requests for Schultz to testify, instead offering other executives to speak in his place. Sanders has stood his ground, with the panel gearing up to vote for a subpoena of Schultz on March 8. 

“Bottom line is we have a billionaire running a multinational corporation breaking federal labor law,” Sanders said at a press conference Tuesday. “And we intend to put an end to that.”

More than 280 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize in the U.S. since 2021, but the company has very publicly clashed with organizers in that time, firing 200 of them. 

The interest that Sanders has in Schultz goes beyond the company’s treatment of organizing activities, however. It likely has more to do with what Sanders argues is Schultz’s direct involvement in shaping Starbucks’ labor practices.

In a letter to the company last week, Sanders pointed to a 2021 meeting in Buffalo where Schultz spoke to all workers in the area.

“These workers were forced to attend this meeting while every Buffalo-area store was closed to listen to Mr. Schultz one month prior to union elections that were held in the area,” the Vermont independent wrote. “This meeting makes clear the enormous power and influence Mr. Schultz has over labor policy at Starbucks.”