Labor advocates decried Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Starbucks in a labor dispute between the international coffee giant and seven of its employees who were terminated for leading a unionization campaign at their Memphis store.

In an 8-1 decision — with liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting — the justices in Starbucks v. McKinney made it more difficult for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to temporarily halt alleged unfair labor practices. The court rejected a rule invoked by some courts to protect workers in favor of a higher standard supported by Starbucks.

Far-right Justice Clarence Thomas, who penned the court’s majority opinion, asserted that the NLRB-backed standard made it too easy for the federal government to prevail in labor disputes with businesses.

“In fact,” he wrote, “it is hard to imagine how the board........

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