Starbucks announced plans to have a delve into the NFT business even as the union-busting controversy continues.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have had their fair share of controversy, but they have now found themselves in the middle of a conflict between multibillion-dollar firms in the United States and workers attempting to unionize their workplaces.

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

While integrating NFTs may appear to be a positive step, some believe it is a ploy to divert attention away from the company’s anti-union efforts. Starbucks fired Laila Dalton, a union representative who had worked for the firm for more than three years, an hour after the announcement.

Dalton said in an interview that supervisors were continuously harassing her because she was the leader of a union. “I’m always expecting that since I get harassed every day,” Dalton explained.

Store unionization efforts are gaining traction in the United States. On April 1, the Starbucks Roastery at New York’s Chelsea Market became the tenth unionized Starbucks in the United States.

Furthermore, Amazon employees on Staten Island recently voted to form the first Amazon union in the United States, a move that many labor politics analysts regard as a huge triumph for labor 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 said that businesses across the country are “being assailed in numerous ways by the threat of unionization.”

Despite the alleged danger of unionization, 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 low pay.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against the coffee company in March, accusing it of discriminating against workers who wanted to organize unions. Employees have the freedom to seek improvements and establish unions, according to the NLRB. According to Cornele Overstreet, an NLRB director, “workers have the freedom to collaborate to better their working conditions, including by organizing a union.”

Back in March 2022, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted concerns about the Ethereum blockchain’s original egalitarian digital economy goal being hijacked by entities motivated by greed. The community, on the other hand, responded by stating that there should be a balance between idealism and business.