After Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz declined to testify on allegations of unlawful anti-union practices, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Wednesday he will seek to subpoena him, The Hill reported.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will vote on whether to issue the subpoena to Schultz next Wednesday. The Democratic-controlled panel will also vote on a probe into labor law violations by large corporations.
Sanders said Schultz has "denied meeting and document requests, skirted congressional oversight attempts, and refused to answer any of the serious questions we have asked" regarding the Starbucks' alleged union busting.
Sanders added that Schultz "has given us no choice but to subpoena him. A multibillion dollar corporation like Starbucks cannot continue to break federal labor law with impunity. The time has come to hold Starbucks and Mr. Schultz accountable."
Starbucks has said its chief public affairs officer, A.J. Jones, should testify before the committee, insisting that he is better suited to answer questions, because Schultz is due to resign in April as CEO.
However, Schultz will continue to be a Starbucks board member.
CNBC reported that Schultz owns 1.9% of Starbucks' shares, with the company's market value at approximately $124 billion.
"This is a disappointing development, but we will continue our dialogue with Chairman Sanders' staff and are optimistic that we'll come to an appropriate resolution," Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull told The Hill. "Our response to the chairman's initial request still stands."
More than 350 Starbucks stores have voted to form a union in the past 15 months, and the corporation has attempted to crack down on organizing attempts by using tactics called unlawful by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to The Hill.
The NLRB ruled earlier this month that Starbucks unlawfully threatened and later fired employees at two Philadelphia locations who headed campaigns to organize unions. Starbucks was ordered to rehire the workers and give them back pay.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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