© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz delivers a speech at Starbucks Investor Day 2016 in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 7, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Photo archive
By Kanishka Singh, David Shepardson and Hilary Russ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp acting CEO Howard Schultz agreed to testify before a U.S. Senate committee this month after resisting previous requests to appear and answer questions about labor law compliance by the company.
Schultz will testify on March 29 before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the company and the panel’s chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, said Tuesday. Schultz, who will leave office this month, had previously declined an invitation from 11 senators to testify before the panel on March 9.
Committee Democrats had scheduled a vote for Wednesday, canceled after Schultz agreed to testify, on issuing a subpoena compelling Schultz to appear. The company previously offered other executives to speak in his place.
Over the years, Schultz has helped Starbucks (NASDAQ:) build a reputation as a progressive employer, offering higher wages and more benefits, including company stock and health insurance, than other restaurant chains.
But the company’s response to a growing union campaign, as well as some of Schultz’s public comments, have been described by some critics, including some shareholders, as overly aggressive.
Democratic lawmakers have accused Starbucks of illegally firing pro-union employees and closing newly unionized stores, which the company denies.
“Despite the fact that more than 280 Starbucks coffee shops have successfully voted to form a union over the past year, Starbucks has refused to negotiate in good faith to sign a single first contract with its employees,” Sanders said in a statement. .
At their annual shareholder meeting on March 23, Starbucks investors will vote on a proposal for an external audit of the chain’s labor policies. Two senior advisers recommended ‘yes’ votes on the proposal, and Starbucks has since said it is conducting its own review.
UNION POLICIES
As the company’s director, Schultz did not participate in decision-making on labor law, instead delegating them to other executives, Starbucks executive vice president and chief communications officer AJ Jones II said in an interview.
The company had made 17 requests in the past to meet with Sanders staff to discuss the unions, before finally being granted a meeting on February 17, he said.
Jones said he and other Starbucks representatives met with Sanders’ staff again on Monday.
Schultz plans to testify about how Starbucks has led the industry by offering higher wages and better benefits, and will speak about “who we are as a company … and what we stand for,” he said.
In a statement, Starbucks Workers United, the Service Employees International affiliate that organizes most of the newly unionized Starbucks coffee shops, said it expected to hear from Schultz.
“As the architect of Starbucks’ unprecedented union-busting campaign, it is time that it was held accountable for its actions,” the union said.
Employees at more than 280 of the roughly 9,000 company-operated US Starbucks locations have voted to join a union since 2021. The union seeks better wages and benefits, improved health and safety conditions, and protections against unfair dismissal and discipline.
Sanders said the US National Labor Relations Board has issued more than 80 complaints against Starbucks for violating federal labor law. Sanders also noted that an administrative law judge in New York ruled that the company engaged in “egregious and widespread misconduct” in the union organizing drive.