Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz spars with Bernie Sanders over unions
Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz faced sharp questioning Wednesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as he defended the company’s actions during an ongoing unionizing cཧampaign.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been a vocal supporter of Starbucks labor organizers, accused the company of stalling effor🍃ts to reach a contract with ܫworkers who first voted to unionize in late 2021.
He also said federal courts and administrative judges at the National Labor Relations Board have found Starbucks guilty of firing labor organizers and illegally closing unionized stores, among other tactics.
“The fundamental issue we are confronting today is whether we have a system of justice that applies to all, or whether billionaires and la🉐rge corporations can break the law with impunity,” Sanders said.
Schultz denied the company has broken the law and said Starbucks is appealing those charges. Schultz said Starbucks respects workers’ right to unionize, but believes the company already provides its🌳 workers with industry-leadin༺g wages and benefits.
He said St🍌arbucks’ average starting wage is $17.50, while the minimum wage in Vermont is $13.18.
“I think unions have served an important role in American business for many years꧙. In the ’50s and ’60s, unions generally were working on behalf of people in a company where people haven’t been treated fairly,” Schultz said. “We do not believe that we are that kind of company. We do nothing nefarious. We put our people first.”
Sanders has sought Schultz’s testimony for months. Schultz had tried to sidestep the hearing, 🎉suggesting that others in the company were ꦚmore deeply involved in labor matters.
But Sanders argues that Schultz, who stepped down as interim CEO last week but remains on the company’꧟s board, was instrumental in setting the company’s policies.
Under threat of a subpoena, Schultz a🦄ppeared befor🅷e the committee.
At least 293 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-owned US Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, according to the NLRB. Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the stores, has yet to reach a contract agreement with any Starbucks s𒊎tore.
Schultz said just 3,400 of Starbucks’ 𝕴250,000 US employees have elected🅷 to join a union.
“About 1% of partners have chosen a different approach, as is their rightꦆ under lღaw,” he said.
The unionization effort has been contentious.
Earlier this month, a federal labor judge found that the company “hundreds of times” during a unionization campaign in Buffalo, NY.
The company is appealing. Federal jud💞ges have also forc💫ed Starbucks to reinstate the labor organizers whom it fired.
Schultz, who led Starbucks from 1987 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2017, returned as interim CEO last April. Starbucks’ new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, told the Associated Press that he also believes Starbucks functions better without unions.
“I continue to believe a di🌺rect relationship with our pa🥀rtners is the best way forward,” Narasimhan said.
