AFL-CIO, North America's largest union group, calls for game industry unionization

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Calls to unionize the game development industry aren't new—the "EA Spouse" controversy dates back to 2004—but the effort has picked up steam over the past several months, driven by stories of "death march" crunch and abusive working conditions at major studios.

Game Workers Unite UK became the country's first videogame industry union when it joined the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain in late 2018, and now the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the largest federation of unions in North America, has weighed in with an open letter sent to Kotaku that calls on game developers "to demand a stake in your industry and a say in your economic future."

The AFL-CIO letter, from secretary-treasurer Liz Shuler, comes just a few days after Activision laid off nearly 800 employees at the same time as it reported record-setting revenues for 2018. It doesn't mention those layoffs specifically but it does name CEO Bobby Kotick and his Electronic Arts counterpart, Andrew Wilson.





US labor organization AFL-CIO urges game developers to unionize in open letter

In the wake of Activision Blizzard’s massive layoff wave, a move that was announced in the same call as the company’s record quarter, the union federation AFL-CIO has published an open letter to game developers urging members of the industry to organize.

The AFL-CIO itself is the largest labor organization in the United States and counts 55 individual unions (and more than 12.5 million workers) among its affiliates.

The letter, readable in full on Kotaku, calls out many of the issues that have prompted conversations about unionization in just recent years like excessive crunch, toxic work conditions, inadequate pay, and job instability.

The industry, points out AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer Liz Shuler, boasted sales 3.6 times greater than those of the film industry in 2018, yet much of that financial success isn’t felt by the developers working on the games that generate those billions.

“Executives are always quick to brag about your work. It’s the talk of every industry corner office and boardroom. They pay tribute to the games that capture our imaginations and seem to defy economic gravity. They talk up the latest innovations in virtual reality and celebrate record-smashing releases, as your creations reach unparalleled new heights,” says Shuler.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
Yes, far better to unionize and ruin another industry than have people say, "I'm not going to work under those conditions." Makes a lot of sense!
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
Yes, far better to unionize and ruin another industry than have people say, "I'm not going to work under those conditions." Makes a lot of sense!
Yep, people want the freedom to make choices but get too scared to implement. IMO the reality is people just want something to piss and moan about
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
Yep, people want the freedom to make choices but get too scared to implement. IMO the reality is people just want something to piss and moan about
Sadly, people don't want the freedom to make choices IF they have live by the consequences of those choices. They want the freedom to always be right, and if wrong be free from consequence.
 
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