REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson
In a testy and sometimes confrontational Senate hearing Wednesday, Howard Schultz, who stepped down as Starbucks CEO just last week, faced fiery questions about the company’s illegal union-busting campaign.
“Starbucks has waged the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said as he opened the hearing. “That union-busting campaign has been led by Howard Schultz.”
Schultz, a billionaire businessman who explored a potential presidential bid in 2019, abruptly stepped down from his role as Starbucks CEO days before Wednesday’s hearing, but he remains on the company’s board. He initially refused to testify before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, appearing only after being threatened last month with a subpoena.