Howard Schultz Hearing on Starbucks Anti-Union Activity Highlights Corporate Payments to Union-Busting Consultants

Howard Schultz testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on March 29 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

In one of the most contentious moments of a March 29 Senate hearing examining allegations that Starbucks intimidated and fired workers trying to unionize, the shadowy world of well-paid union-busters was thrust into the spotlight.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) confronted former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over the coffee company’s hiring of Littler Mendelson, the country’s largest employment and labor law firm devoted exclusively to representing management.