When a group of Tesla workers at a factory in Buffalo launched a union organizing effort this week, it thrust employees into a high-profile standoff with a company led by CEO Elon Musk, one of the wealthiest people in the world.
A day later, on Wednesday, Tesla fired more than 30 workers at the facility, some of whom were involved in the organizing effort, the union said in a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
"We all saw people getting marched out," Nick Piazza, 32, a participant in the union drive who works at the warehouse labeling videos to improve Tesla's self-driving software, told ABC News. "I'm heartbroken by it."
"The timing is very suspicious," he added. "We feel it's a scare tactic. But it emboldens me."
In a blog post on Thursday, Tesla rejected allegations that there were retaliatory firings at the Buffalo facility. The company laid off 4% of the autopilot labeling staff as part of a routine performance review that takes place every six months, the company said.
According to Tesla, only one out of the 27 impacted employees was officially identified as part of the union campaign.
Tesla identified the affected employees on Feb. 3, approximately 10 days before the launch of the union campaign, the company added.
The labor campaign at Tesla follows a resurgence in union organizing last year that brought landmark victories at major corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, carrying over similar grievances about insufficient pay and closely tracked performance.
The newly formed union of Tesla workers, called Tesla Workers United, is affiliated with Workers United, the labor organization that gained prominence last year for helping Starbucks workers unionize more than 260 stores nationwide.
The union drive at Tesla faces formidable challenges, however, since a campaign encompassing thousands of workers will prove more difficult than an organizing drive at a Starbucks store, for instance, which typically employs a few dozen workers, experts told ABC News.
On top of that, workers will likely encounter a well-resourced effort to dissuade them from unionizing, a modern-day corporate playbook for responding to labor drives that in some cases includes employee termination, the experts said.
"We're seeing a big upsurge of workers interested in joining a union," Susan Schurman, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University, told ABC News. "The question is just do they feel strongly enough to take the risk of trying to organize, understanding that one of the risks is that they're going to be fired?"
Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
The organizing committee, which counts between 40 and 50 members, has so far focused on issues of pay and job security, Piazza added.
"It's really hard to support a family in this economy," he said. "Some people are really struggling."