by WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders and Howard Schultz will face off Wednesday in a highly anticipated hearing on the company’s employment practices, which the former Starbucks chief executive defended from criticism.
Schultz testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Sanders, I-Vt., in a hearing titled no-nonsense, “No Business Is Above the Law: The Need to End Union Suppression Illegal at Starbucks.”
It came after weeks of clashes between the Sanders-led panel and Starbucks, which unsuccessfully urged the panel to hear testimony from someone other than Schultz, who officially He left the company on March 20. Sanders refused, and Schultz eventually agreed to testify under the threat of a subpoena.
“Strong unions are a vital part of rebuilding the declining middle class in this country,” Sanders said in his opening statement, adding that as union activity has increased, “corporations have become involved at a unprecedented illegal union busting” and blamed Starbucks. “For the past 18 months, Starbucks has waged the most aggressive and illegal anti-union campaign in the modern history of our country.”
The hearing, which lasted more than three hours, featured a defense of Starbucks’ labor practices by Schultz, as well as testimony from Maggie Carter, a Starbucks barista in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Jaysin Saxton, whom the committee called a “fired Starbucks worker leader.” from Augusta, Georgia, and other witnesses.
There were some tense exchanges between Sanders and Schultz over the course of the hearing. At one point, the former Starbucks chief executive dismissed Sanders by repeatedly labeling him a billionaire and calling the moniker “unfair.”
“I grew up in federally subsidized housing…my parents never owned a home. I come from nothing. I thought my whole life was built on achieving the American dream,” she said. “Yes, I have billions of dollars. I earned it, nobody gave it to me. And I’ve consistently shared it with the people at Starbucks.”
Schultz found a warmer reception from Republicans on the committee, with Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-La., saying the hearing “is not a good faith effort to get the facts.”
“This is a smear campaign against an individual and a company based on allegations that everyone knows are still under litigation,” Cassidy said. “Let’s not fool ourselves. This is not a fair and impartial hearing.” She also criticized the National Labor Relations Board for putting “its thumb on the scale for unions.”
Schultz told the committee that Starbucks is “100% committed to meeting our obligations as an employer under the National Labor Relations Act and is committed to good faith negotiations on the first contracts for each unionized store.”
“Every day we wake up thinking about how we can put our people first to win. We do our best to demonstrate the heart and values of the service,” she said.
Responding to Sanders’ aggressive questioning, Schultz repeatedly denied that Starbucks violated the law and vowed to continue bargaining with union organizers in “good faith.”
Schultz also touted Starbucks wages and benefits, saying that while “unions have played an important role in American business for many years,” that has tended to be more prevalent at companies that mistreat workers.
“We don’t do anything that is nefarious,” he said. “And that’s why Starbucks doesn’t need a union.”
Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential primary finalist who has built a brand as a union advocate, has taken a keen interest in Starbucks and Schultz.
