Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz agrees to testify at Senate hearing after subpoena threat

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has agreed to attest successful a U.S. Senate proceeding astir the java chain's alleged national busting aft unit from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, oregon HELP, Committee was scheduled to ballot Wednesday greeting connected whether to subpoena Schultz, who antecedently declined a petition to appear. Sanders, a antiauthoritarian socialist who represents Vermont, serves arsenic seat of the committee.

Schultz is present scheduled to look astatine a March 29 hearing.

In February, Starbucks' wide counsel wrote successful a missive viewed by CNBC that since Schultz is stepping down arsenic interim CEO successful March, it would marque much consciousness for different elder person with ongoing responsibilities to testify. Newcomer Laxman Narasimhan is slated to instrumentality implicit arsenic main enforcement successful April.

A typical for Starbucks did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

As of Tuesday, 290 Starbucks locations person voted to unionize, according to National Labor Relations Board data. More than a twelvemonth aft Starbucks Workers United won its archetypal election, nary of the cafes person agreed to a declaration with Starbucks yet.

Since Schultz returned to the helm of the institution successful April past year, Starbucks has taken a much assertive attack to reason the national push. The national has filed much than 500 charges of unfair labour practices with the NLRB, including allegations of retaliatory firings and store closures.

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