From Fox Business –

Starbucks has fired several workers in Memphis, Tenn., after a local news outlet covered the employees’ union organization efforts.

The employees are now accusing the company of “union-busting” and vowing to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, while Starbucks says the decision had nothing to do with media attention or the fact that the workers were seeking representation.

Starbucks Workers United, the union seeking to organize Starbucks employees nationwide, tweeted Tuesday, “Starbucks corporate is currently firing virtually the entire union leadership in Memphis after they spoke to the media.” The union said later in a press release that seven workers were let go and called the incident the company’s “most blatant act of union-busting yet.”

Last month, a local reporter tweeted out a photo with the message, “You’re looking at the first @Starbucks employees in #Memphis trying to unionize. Hear their grievances, see the steps needed to form a union and find out who’s helping these workers” in promoting her story.

The image shows Starbucks employees, whose unionization efforts have pushed for greater protection from COVID-19, sitting around a table at their workplace without wearing masks as required.

The meeting was held after hours, and Starbucks says security footage shows the workers violating stringent policies by opening the doors and leaving them unattended after close of business while allowing in unauthorized people both behind the line and in the back of house.

It also shows that an employee who was not a designated cash controller opened the store’s safe and was allowed to do so, which Starbucks says was a significant violation of the rules carried out by those involved.