Transcripts For CSPAN3 Former 20240705 : vimarsana.com

The Senate Committee on health, education, labor and pensions will come to order. Let me get to the point of this hearing. Today in our country, over 60 about where people are living paycheck to paycheck. And millions are working for starvation wages. Unbelievably, despite an explosion in technology and huge increases worker productivity, the average American Worker is making 50 a week less then he or she made 50 years ago after adjusting for inflation. Unless we change the nature of the way our economy works, it is all too likely that our Younger Generation will have a lower standard of living then their parents. What this means in reality is that workers throughout our country are struggling to pay for housing, struggling to pay for health care, and prescription drugs, struggling to put food on the table. Struggling to pay off their student debts and to deal with other basic sensitize of life basic necessities of life. And while that is the reality for the working class of this country, here is another reality. That is that the people on top have never ever had it so good. Today in america, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had. With the top 1 now owning more wealth than the bottom 90 . With ceos making now making 400 times what their workers are making. And with three people at the top owning more wealth than the bottom half of american society. That is the economic reality that exists today. People on top doing extraordinarily well and millions of working families struggling. As a result of that economic reality, what we are now seeing is a major increase in trade Union Organizing. Throughout our country, in blue collar jobs and white collar jobs, workers are standing up and arent fighting back to form unions in order to improve their wages, their benefits, and theyre working conditions. These workers know, as i do, that Union Workers earn 20 more on average than nonUnion Workers. These workers also know, as i do, that Union Workers have Better Health care benefits, better paid family and medical leave policies, are much more likely to have a pension, and are less likely to be victims of health and safety violations compared to non Union Workers. At a time when 71 of the American People now approve of unions, the highest level since 1965, there has been a major revitalization of the trade Union Movement in this country. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of Union Elections taking place in america has gone up by 53 . And since 2020, workers have voted to form a union in over 70 of Union Elections. Its rather extraordinary. That is the good news for those of us who understand that strong unions are a vital part of rebuilding the declining middle class in this country. That is the good news. The bad news is that in order to combat this increase in Union Organizing, cooperations have engaged corporations had engaged in a unprecedented level of Illegal Union busting activities. That takes us to the focus of todays hearing. Over the past 18 months, starbucks has waged the most aggressive and Illegal Union busting camping in the modern history of our country. That Union Busting campaign has been led by howard schultz, the multibillionaire founder and director of starbucks, who is with us this morning only under the threat of subpoena. Let us be clear about the nature of starbucks vicious anti Union Efforts. The National Labor Relations Board has filed over 80 complaints against starbucks for violating federal labor law. There have been over 500 unfair labor practice charges lodged against the company, and judges have found that starbucks broke the law 130 times across six states since workers began organizing in the fall of 2021. These violations include the illegal firing of more than a dozen starbucks workers for the crime of exercising their right to form a union and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Since the first Starbucks Union was certified, more than 450 days ago in buffalo, workers at more than 360 Stores Across 40 states have held Union Elections. 83 of these elections have resulted in a union victory. And today, nearly 300 Starbucks Coffee shops employing more than 7000 workers had a union. Despite starbucks aggressive anti Union Efforts. With nearly 300 shops voting to form a looming a union, starbucks has refused to sign a single first contract with the union. Not a single one. Think about that. Think about a Multi Billion Dollar Company with unlimited resources, with all kinds of lawyers, advisories, consultants, and yet they have not yet signed one contract with any of their nearly 300 unionized shops. Just a few weeks ago on march 1st, an administrator judge found starbucks guilty of, quote, egregious and widespread misconduct, and quote which showed, quote, a general disregard for the employees fundamental rights, and quote. In a 220 page ruling, this judge found that starbucks illegally retaliated against employees for unionizing, promised improved pay and benefits if workers rejected the union, conducted illegal surveillance of proUnion Workers, refused to hire perspective employees who supported the union, relocated Union Organizers to new stories, and overstaffed stories ahead of union votes. All clear violations of federal labor law. The judge also found that starbucks, quote, widespread coercive behavior over six months had permeated every store in the buffalo market, and boat. The judge ordered starbucks to reinstate seven workers who were wrongfully terminated, reopened a in store in buffalo that was illegally shut down and paid, quote, reasonable consequential damages, and quote, to more than two dozen starbucks workers whose rights were violated by the company. And let us be clear, starbucks egregious Union Busting campaign is not limited to buffalo. It is happening all over america. Federal courts in tennessee and michigan have issued emergency injunctions requiring starbucks to reinstate workers who were illegally fired, and to prohibit the coffee chain from firing workers for supporting unionization efforts. In scottsdale at phoenix, arizona. The nlrb has charged starbucks with committing eight violations of labor law when it disciplined, fired it forced out workers because they cooperated with federal investigations. On november 30th of last year, the nlrb found starbucks unlawfully reduced refused to recognize and bargain with the union and its reserve Grocery Store in seattle. Nlrb judges have found that starbucks illegally threatened to withhold benefits including Health Insurance from proUnion Workers in denver, seattle, and ann arbor. The pattern in all of these stories is clear. On one hand, we have workers making 13, 14, 15 an hour with minimal benefits, working 20 hours a week, 30 hours away, maybe 40 hours a week, depending on a totally unpredictable schedule dictated by their managers. And these workers are out there struggling today to achieve the dignity and justice on the job. That is what they are trying to do. And i applaud them for this. And on the other hand, we have a corporation with some hundred 13 billion dollars, largely controlled by an individual worth some four billion dollars, who are using their unlimited resources to do everything possible, legal and illegal, to deny these workers their constitutional right to form a union. The fundamental issue we are confronting today is whether we have a system of justice that applies to all, or whether billionaires and large corporations can break the law with impunity. I have read mr. Schultzs comments to the media. In which he expresses his strong anti union views. As an american, mr. Schultz is entitled to those views and any other views he holds. But even if he is a multi billionaire, and the head of a giant corporation, he is not entitled to break the law. So, today i will be asking mr. Schultz whether he will do what an administrative judge has ordered him to do, and that is to record and distribute a 14page notice which states that starbucks has violated federal labor law, to inform starbucks employees all across this country about their rights under the National Labor relations act. How starbucks has violated those rights and to ensure that starbucks will not infringe upon those rights in the future. In other words i will be asking mr. Schultz whether or not he intends to obey the law. Further, i will be asking mr. Schultz another question. That is, whether or not he is prepared to promise this committee that within 14 days of this hearing, starbucks will Exchange Proposals with the union, something that it has refused to do for more than 450 days. So that meaningful progress can be made to bargain a contract in good faith. And let me conclude by saying that what is outrageous to me is not only starbucks anti Union Activities, and their willingness to break the law. It is their calculated and intentional efforts to stall and stall and stall. They understand at the turnover rate at starbucks, and many other similar Type Companies is high. They understand that if workers do not seek success in gaining a contract, they will get discouraged and give up the fight. At a time when we want, at this difficult time in our country, for people to stand up and fight for the rights, to try to destroy the spirits of thousands and thousands of people who are fighting for justice. That, to my mind, is unforgivable. Thank, you chairman sanders. Workers have a right to organize. Now, some may disagree and whether the protections for workers who choose to organize should also apply to workers who choose not to organize. Thats my position, but examining this nuance is not the issue. The title of todays hearing is no company is above the law that needs to and Illegal Unions at starbucks. That clearly presumes that mr. Schultzs former employees are guilty before the allegations are fully investigated. The title suggests that this hearing is not a good faith effort to get at the facts. Its a Smear Campaign against an individual, and a Company Based upon allegations that everyone knows are still under litigation. I am not here to defend starbucks, i have my own questions about the alleged misconduct. And the law should be followed and upheld. I agree with the chair, no one is above the law. But lets not kid ourselves. This is not a fair and impartial hearing. Its not surprising that mr. Schultz was reluctant to testify, when the majority is used in the title of the hearing. To slander the witness, we are asking to testify. It sends a signal. The majority points to claims that starbucks misconduct filed the National Labor Relations Board to justify todays hearing. These allegations should be addressed and they should be investigated, period. But it would be malpractice for this committee to not also acknowledge that nlrb is currently facing its own credibility crisis. The nlrb confirmed there are four separate allegations of nlrb employee al interference, three of which the employer was starbucks before the court. It begs the question, are nlrb employees weaponizing the agency against american employers, to benefit politically connected labor unions . The National Labor relations act was passed to provide an unbiased framework to review disputes between employers and employees. The nlrb carries out the law, and is required to protect the rights of all parties in a labor dispute. Not put their thumb on the scale in the favor of unions. But that is not what we appear to be seeing in practice. And nlrb hearing officer recently substantiated reports of voting irregularities in a Union Election in kansas, that could potentially elevate the level of misconduct by nlrb employees. This includes nlrb providing duplicate balance. Supplying Union Organizers with confidential voter information. Providing rule recombination to lose, selected both the union without offering them to all of the employees. Regardless of the outcome, these actions are in direct violation of federal law and nlrb written guidelines. Today, we will hear from former congressman he is representing the brave whistleblower who brought this misconduct and weaponization of the agency to light. He will be able to provide more insight into how the nlrb has operated and violated its own practices in a procedure lujan. In a way which favors labor unions. Lets be clear, and one more time. Workers have a legal right to unionize. Companies cannot break the law to prevent unionization. Similarly, unions should not be allowed to intimidate workers into unionizing through coercion or by banning secret ballot elections with this the Supreme Court to stated, quote, indeed is a preferred method to gauge workers support of unionization. This is a conversation this committee can have, and will continue to have. But the bottom line is that a federal agency has no right to break the law to advance a political agenda. And this should be something that our Committee Investigates on a bipartisan basis. If the committee is going to properly investigate concerns over Labor Relations at starbucks, we should also investigate alleged misconduct in the agency that sought to influence the Union Representation process. Unless we experience, i said we should seek lemate policy issues, not hold show trials for public shaming. Today looks like more of what we saw last week. There are important bipartisan things the committee needs to accomplish. We need to Work Together on Real Solutions to issues facing american families, like the high cost of prescription drugs, getting americans back to work, driving down inflation that is choking economic growth. Instead, weve put ceos on the dock. Instead of the cage in which the prisoner was formerly kept is a desk in front of the committee, where a judgment has already been made. Thank, you and i look forward to todays testimony. Thank, you senator cassidy. We will now turn to our witness, mr. Howard schultz the longtime chief executive officer for starbucks and a member of the star box board of directors. Mr. Schultz, you may proceed with your testimony. Thank you very much, mister chairman. Good morning, chairman sanders, Ranking Member cassidy, and senators of the committee. Im pleased to be here this morning and tell the entrepreneurial story of starbucks and how we have carried the American Flag to 84 countries around the world. My vision first Starbucks Coffee company has always been steeped in humanity, respect, and shared success. Its a vision that was inspired by the struggles of my father, a world war ii veteran who slipped on a sheet of ice in 1960 and was promptly fired from his job as a delivery driver. It fractured our family, and it deeply scarred me. I decided at an early age, if i was ever in a position to run a business, it would be based on respect and shared success. With my oneyear term as starbucks interim ceo having come to a close, i appear before you today with love and gratitude for what we have built at starbucks over these last 40 years. The essential operating april approach at starbucks since 1987, when we had just 11 stores, has focused on values based decisions. Weve always believed that if we exceed expectations of our people, they intern will execute expectations of our customers. We call our employees partners. Its a very important point to share with the committee. Because since 1991, we establish shared ownership for every Single Person in starbucks, full and parttime. Unprecedented. More than 30 years ago, before the companys ipo, starbucks created to unprecedented benefits for our partners. It was the first of its kind in all of American Business. Never done before. Starbucks been stop program, stop equity program, and access to health care, almost 25 years before the Affordable Care act. For full and parttime workers who work 20 hours a week. My written testimony has details on the benefits and opportunities we have created for our people over the past 40 years. This represents decades of work striving to build a different kind of company that lifts our customers and gives our customers a chance for a better life. According to a, on one of the most respected benefits and Hr Consultants agencies in the country penny, this is their voice, not ours. There is literally no company, no company in our center that offers higher benefits than starbucks in the United States. And senators, we did this by building a direct relationship with our partners. Built on trust and shared success, based on a 40 year track record of benefits and actions to create opportunity. Today, maries designing our stores earn on average 17. 50. Respectfully, thats more than