STARBUCKS fired almost all of a union organising committee in one of its United States stores yesterday in what has been described as its most “blatant act of union busting yet.”

Seven workers at the Highland & Poplar store in Memphis, Tennessee, were sacked instantly — amounting to about 35 per cent of the workforce.

The global coffee giant claimed the workers were sacked for “policy violations” but Starbucks Workers United alleged it was retaliation for the unionising efforts. One worker, the group says, was dismissed for signing a union card in front of a security camera, not for security violations.