Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have been the subject of much debate, but they have suddenly found themselves in the middle of a fight in the United States between multibillion-dollar firms and workers seeking to unionize their workplaces.

Specifically, Mr. Howard Schultz reportedly promised increased worker benefits and digital innovation using NFTs on his first day back as CEO of Starbucks. “sometime before the end of the calendar year, we are going to be in the NFT business.” Schultz said in a partner open forum.

The announcement was met with a lot of criticism. “Corporations could just pay employees living wages instead of burning profits to maintain illusions.,” user smchatter1 remarked in a tweet. Michael Lama slammed the action as well.

While integrating NFTs may appear to be a progressive move, some say it is really a diversionary way to divert attention away from the company’s anti-union tactics. Starbucks fired Laila Dalton, a union representative who had worked for the firm for more than three years, an hour after the announcement.

Managers were continuously pressuring Dalton because she was the leader of a union, she said in an interview. “I’m used to that because I’m harassed every day,” Dalton explained.

In the United States, efforts to unionize retailers are gaining traction. The Starbucks Roastery in New York’s Chelsea Market became the eleventh Starbucks unionized in the United States on April 1. 

In addition, Amazon workers in Staten Island recently won a vote to form the first Amazon union in the United States, a move that many labor experts regard as a huge triumph for labor in the United States.

Schultz has been a staunch opponent of labor unions. He defined Starbucks as “a pro-partner corporation” during the partner gathering. “A corporation where we don’t need someone to stand between us and our employees.” He further asserted that the danger of unionization is “assaulting businesses in numerous ways” across the country.

Despite the alleged threat of unionization, Starbucks hit record profits in the fourth quarter of 2021, despite employee complaints about unhealthy and erratic scheduling, as well as benefits issues and low pay.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reportedly filed a complaint against the coffee company in March, accusing it of discriminating against employees who wished to organize unions. Employees have the freedom to seek improvements and establish unions, according to the NLRB. “Employees have the right to join together to improve their working circumstances, including by forming a union,” said Cornele Overstreet, an NLRB director.

In March 2022, Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin expressed concern that the Ethereum blockchain‘s original egalitarian digital economy concept would be hijacked by greedy forces. The community, on the other hand, stated that there should be a balance between idealism and business.