As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders settles into his new role as chairman of a committee that oversees health and labor issues, he says some corporations “should be nervous.” And the longtime liberal crusader’s first target is Howard Schultz, the interim CEO of Starbucks who has aggressively fought his workers’ efforts to unionize.
Sanders and the 10 other Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee sent a letter to Schultz on Tuesday demanding he testify at a March 9 hearing on his company’s compliance with federal labor laws. If Schultz ignores or refuses the request, Sanders said, he’s willing to use the committee’s subpoena power to force him to appear.
