Howard Schultz’s Comment to Pro-Union Starbucks Worker Was Threat, Labor Board Alleges
- Agency brings complaint over CEO’s remarks to employee
- Company denies wrongdoing, says anti-union claims false
Howard Schultz
Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Starbucks Corp. interim Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz made comments during an April meeting with employees that US labor officials view as an illegal anti-union threat, according to a complaint Friday.
In that meeting, an employee asked Schultz about retaliation against union supporters. He told the worker, “I’m sensing a lot of anger from you about Starbucks,” and “If you hate Starbucks so much, why don’t you work somewhere else?”