Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

2023 - 3 - 30

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Democracy Now!"

Bernie Sanders vs. Howard Schultz: Longtime Starbucks <span ... (Democracy Now!)

Just weeks after the National Labor Relations Board accused Starbucks of engaging in “egregious and widespread misconduct” to prevent employees from ...

Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. AMY GOODMAN: That was former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders during a hearing Wednesday at the Senate HELP Committee. Schultz, will you commit right now that within 14 days of this hearing, Starbucks will exchange proposals with the union, something it has refused to do for more than 450 days, so that meaningful progress can be made to bargain a first contract in good faith? HOWARD SCHULTZ: I’ve had conversations that could have been interpreted in a different way than I intended. Are you aware that on March 1st, 2023, an administrative law judge found Starbucks guilty of, quote, “egregious and widespread misconduct,” end-quote, widespread coercive behavior, and showed, quote, “a general disregard for the employees’ fundamental rights,” end-quote, in a union-organizing campaign that started in Buffalo, New York, in 2021? Do you understand that? But with nearly 300 shops voting to form a union, Starbucks has refused to sign a single first contract with the union. Eighty-three percent of these elections have resulted in a union victory, and today nearly 300 Starbucks coffee shops, employing more than 7,000 workers, have a union — despite Starbucks’ aggressive anti-union efforts. There have been over 500 unfair labor practice charges lodged against the company. That union-busting campaign has been led by Howard Schultz, the multibillionaire founder and director of Starbucks, who is with us this morning only under the threat of subpoena. BERNIE SANDERS: Over the past 18 months, Starbucks has waged the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country. SEN.

Former Starbucks CEO battles Bernie Sanders' 'billionaire moniker ... (Fox Business)

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., traded barbs at a hearing regarding the coffee company's treatment of union organizing ...

"We are back on the right path and have demonstrated that by $1.4 billion of employee-facing investments that we made this year. Schultz noted that 63% of Starbucks retail managers started as hourly baristas, "underscoring the opportunity we provide for shared growth and success and our employee retention is twice the industry average." And if you’re against us, then you’re dead wrong, and you must be corrupt." "Why is it that he’s corrupt, and you’re not? Why is it that all CEOs are corrupt because they’re wealthy, and yet our chairman is wealthy — and I’m glad you are — you’re not? And I do want to point out some hypocrisy about this hearing with the chairman," Mullin told Schultz. "Senator, I agree with you that I do not have the right to decide who can vote for a union or not. "I’m not trying to defend your company because quite frankly, politically we’re at totally different ends of the spectrum, and so the irony of this hearing is actually kind of funny. That union-busting campaign has been led by Howard Schultz, the multibillionaire founder and director of Starbucks who is with us this morning only under the threat of subpoena," Sanders said earlier in his opening statement. I’ve been generous with the time," Sanders said. And that is why people want to come together to form a union," said Sen. "You’re a billionaire, and they are your employees.

In clash with Bernie Sanders, Starbucks' Howard Schultz insists he's ... (Vermont Public)

A hearing for the history books: The resolutely anti-union architect of the modern Starbucks faces the outspoken champion of the union movement in Congress.

The company had encouraged shareholders to vote against it. "It is akin to someone who has been ticketed for speeding a hundred times saying 'I've never violated the law, because every single time — every single time — the cop got it wrong,' " Sen. He had agreed to testify in the Senate only after the committee prepared to subpoena him. Employees at nearly 300 coffee shops have now voted to join Starbucks Workers United, about 3% of the chain's company-owned locations in the U.S. In 2019, Schultz grabbed headlines as he [explored a presidential run](https://www.npr.org/2019/01/28/689465330/ex-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-says-he-wouldnt-be-a-spoiler-in-race-for-white-h) against Donald Trump as an independent. "Over the past 18 months Starbucks has waged the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country," Sanders said. Federal labor officials have issued scores of complaints against the coffee giant. "We want to treat everyone with respect and dignity," Schultz continued. On Wednesday, under threat of subpoena, he appeared in the Senate to address allegations that Starbucks has been breaking labor laws as it fights its employees' nationwide unionization push. And our preference is to maintain the direct relationship we've had with our employees, who we call partners." The statement was met by some laughter from the gallery. It was a hearing for the history books: Billionaire Howard Schultz, the resolutely anti-union architect of Starbucks, faced Sen.

Bernie Sanders confronts former Starbucks CEO over union-busting ... (Missouri Independent)

Democratic senators grilled the former CEO of Starbucks over allegations that the company intimidated workers who tried to form unions.

Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. “Even $17 an hour, that’s not a living wage,” Braun said. “Any large corporation shouldn’t necessarily be bragging about $15 to $20 wages. In order for an employee to qualify for health care, Starbucks requires those employees to work roughly 20 hours a week. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, said the hearing was a smear campaign against Schultz, and assumes that Starbucks is guilty. Schultz repeated to Democratic senators that Starbucks has not broken any laws, regardless of the finding from the NLRB and rulings from federal judges. He said those meetings are ongoing. Schultz stepped down as the company’s CEO in early March, but remains as a board member. They understand that the turnover rate at Starbucks is high,” Sanders said in his opening statement. Starbucks has about 9,300 company-operated stores. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Sen.

Senate Grills Former Starbucks CEO Over Union Conflict | QSR ... (QSR magazine)

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz denied the coffee chain broke labor laws and insisted it is willing to bargain with unionized workers during an ...

[third term](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/employee-management/starbucks-ceo-kevin-johnson-retire) as Starbucks CEO last week, but he remains a major shareholder and a member of the board. When pressed about why the company has refused to add new benefits like credit card tipping and wage increases, Schultz countered that those benefits are subject to bargaining. Starbucks and the union have failed to reach a collective bargaining contract for any of the unionized stores. "Count me as one who is ecstatic that Starbucks is an American success story and I'll have no part in trashing their success." He also alleged the managers held mandatory meetings where they threatened workers with a loss of benefits if they voted to unionize. He also said the company already provides good wages and benefits, noting that its average starting wage is $17.50. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, defended the company and lauded Schultz’s entrepreneurship. He pointed out that only 1 percent of the coffee giant’s 250,000 U.S. He pressed Schultz to commit to exchanging proposals with the union within 14 days. So far, judges have found Starbucks violated labor laws in at least eight of those cases, which the company is appealing. [union conflict ](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/employee-management/nlrb-accuses-starbucks-union-busting)started in 2021, when a store in Buffalo, New York became [the first to unionize](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/employee-management/starbucks-store-buffalo-votes-unionize). Schultz denied any wrongdoing and objected to being characterized as a union-buster.

Howard Schultz's Union-Busting Paternalism (The Nation)

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, briefly touted as a dark-horse Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020, found himself at a less obliging ...

At one point, when Schultz was pressed to explain a hastily convened 2021 executive summit with the Buffalo area workforce that stressed the downsides of union membership, he replied that he never mentioned the word “union” at all in his presentation—that he was only there to explain the company’s mission to a Starbucks workforce whose tenure at the company was less than a year, and so weren’t adequately schooled in the attractive features of their enlightened partnerships. But irony is about unintended consequences, and the shared intent of the Romney and Schultz class is all too plain, and untroubled by any deep underlying ideological tensions. The end result, Schultz claimed, was an enlightened “vision” of Starbucks’ corps of “partners” who maintain fierce loyalty to the corporate culture and brand of Starbucks. Schultz repeated this rote denial of any illegal conduct on the part of himself and his company so regularly that an exasperated Chris Murphy, Democratic senator from Connecticut, asked Schultz, “What do you mean when you say you abide by the law?” Murphy went on to observe that the rote denial of such a vast body of complaints was “akin to someone who’s been ticketed for speeding more than 100 times saying that every single time the cops got it wrong.” Schultz wanly kept insisting that “what you’re talking about is allegations…. Members of the Starbucks Union thronged the corridors outside the Dirksen Building hearing room, anticipating that the company might finally be held to public account, and be shamed into launching good-faith negotiations for a collective-bargaining agreement. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, briefly touted as a dark-horse Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020, found himself at a less obliging juncture of federal power this Wednesday, as he delivered testimony on the coffee giant’s union-busting track record before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.