Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz testified during a much-anticipated hearing led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Wednesday, parroting what appeared to be blatant lies about the company's fierce anti-union campaign and hundreds of labor law violations over the past year and a half.
For the roughly two hours that Schultz was in the hot seat before Sander's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, he stubbornly defended several points about the company's handling of its workers and their union campaign: First, that Starbucks offers a comprehensive benefits package to employees. (Workers have said that their lack of benefits leaves them struggling to survive.) And second, that the company has been relatively friendly to the union. (The company has repeatedly tampered with union elections and refused to bargain with unionized stores.)
