WASHINGTON, March 22 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Tuesday sent a letter to incoming Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz ahead of his announced return to the company, highlighting some of the egregious anti-union efforts the company has undertaken to fight employees who are building a movement to unionize Starbucks locations around the country.

“If Starbucks can afford to spend $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and provide a $20 million compensation package to its CEO, it can afford a unionized workforce that can collectively bargain for better wages, better benefits, safer working conditions and reliable schedules,” Sanders wrote. “Mr. Schultz: This is a pivotal moment for Starbucks. As you return to the company, it is time to do the right thing: End the union busting and obey the law.”

Since the first Starbucks cafe unionized in Buffalo, N.Y. in December of 2021, workers at more than 140 locations across 27 states have filed for union elections, winning 6 of the 7 elections held so far. However, Starbucks’ corporate leadership has fought their own employees every step of the way, subjecting them to an intense anti-union campaign that has included surveillance, hiring workers to vote against unionization, store reassignments, and even illegal tactics such as firing workers who were leading organizing efforts. After investigating and finding merit that Starbucks retaliated against employees seeking to unionize, the National Labor Relations Board last week issued a formal complaint against the company.

Read the full letter here.