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Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has agreed to testify before a Senate committee after weeks of a standoff between him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), setting up a showdown over the coffee giant’s anti-union practices.
Sanders announced Schultz’s decision to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday — ahead of a planned vote Wednesday to subpoena the executive after he previously declined an offer to speak to the panel.
Sanders, a progressive lawmaker who has long voiced support for labor unions, has aggressively pursued testimony from the Starbucks head, as the coffee giant has faced federal repercussions for anti-union activity.
Earlier this month a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Starbucks committed “egregious and widespread” violations of federal law in its campaign to halt unions.
“Let’s be clear. In America, workers have the constitutional right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining to improve their wages and working conditions,” Sanders said in a statement.
