Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have had their fair share of controversy, but they have now found themselves in the middle of a dispute in the United States between multibillion-dollar firms and employees attempting to unionize their workplaces.
Howard Schultz promised increased worker perks and digital innovation utilizing NFTs on his first day back as CEO of Starbucks. Schultz started at a partner open forum that "we are going to be in the NFT business sometime before the end of the calendar year."
The announcement drew a good amount of criticism. User smchatter1 stated in a tweet that "corporations could just give people livable salaries instead of burning money to preserve illusions."
Michael Lama also slammed the move:
"And here's how we plan to fool, defraud, and suck even more money from our employees." April 5, 2022
While incorporating NFTs may appear to be a positive step, some say it is a ploy to divert attention away from the company's anti-union efforts. Starbucks dismissed Laila Dalton, a union representative who had worked for the firm for more than three years, one hour after the announcement.
Dalton stated in an interview that supervisors were continuously harassing her because she was the leader of a union. "I'm always anticipating that since I get harassed every day," Dalton explained.
Store unionization efforts are gaining traction in the United States. The Starbucks Roastery in New York's Chelsea Market became the eighth unionized Starbucks in the United States on April 1.
First Roastery and tenth union Starbucks in the U.S. We are #unionstrong
— SBWorkersUnited April 1, 2022
Furthermore, Amazon employees in Staten Island recently voted to form the first Amazon union in the United States, a move that many labour politics analysts regard as a big triumph for labour in the United States.
Schultz has been outspoken in his opposition to unions. He defined Starbucks as "a pro-partner corporation" during the partner gathering. A corporation that does not require someone to stand between us and our employees." He also stated that corporations throughout the country are being "assaulted in a variety of ways by the possibility of unionisation."
Despite the seeming danger of unionisation, Starbucks achieved record profits in the fourth quarter of 2021, while employees expressed worries about unhealthy and erratic schedules, as well as benefits issues and poor pay.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against the coffee firm in March, accusing it of discriminating against workers who sought to organise unions. Employees have the freedom to seek reforms and establish unions, according to the NLRB. According to Cornell Overstreet, an NLRB director, "workers have the freedom to collaborate to better their working circumstances, including by organising a union."
