Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to skip Senate hearing on unionization battle
Nadya So

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) Chief Executive Howard Schultz is not expected to testify at a Senate hearing scheduled for March 9 on the Seattle-based company's compliance with federal labor law.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders chairs the labor and health committee that wants to probe the effort by Starbucks (SBUX) to resist unionization at stores in the U.S. Sanders claims SBUX has refused to bargain a first contract in good faith, used delaying tactics, and a significant escalation in union busting. The unionization push at Starbucks is over a year old and has progressed slower than anticipated.
Starbucks will send executive vice president and chief public affairs officer AJ Jones II to the hearing with Howard Schultz getting close to a full transition out of the CEO job.
Starbucks (SBUX) poked out a small gain of 0.25% in Wednesday mid-day trading. The hot retail sales report, while showing consumer spending is strong, is also creating some worries that interest rates will remain high for longer than anticipated.
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