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Organisers say a successful vote would create "the biggest recognised union in the UK games sector"
As we've previously covered, a vote on recognition of a union made up of UK-based Rockstar Games devs is set to take place around GTA 6's console launch on November 19th. The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union, whom the Rockstar staff are working with in their efforts to organise, have now revealed just how many workers the Rockstar could end up encompassing if the recognition vote is successful. It's not a small number.
As reported by Game File, when asked to put a number on their claim that the vote could result in "the biggest recognised union in the UK games sector", the IWGB said that the union’s bargaining unit would be made up of more than 1,600 workers. That, according to the union, is nearly everyone at Rockstar's UK studios below the director level. The director level's typically corpospeak for senior management, or the point at which you go from regular staff to the lowest rungs of the exec ladder which leads all the way up to the biggest of gold-plated desks.
Naturally, this UK Rockstar union won't include Rockstar staff based in other studios across the world, including the US and India. Recent reporting from Bloomberg cited Rockstar's total staff number as being over 4,700 people in 12 places across the globe.
The UK union recognition votes will be held from November 12th, a week before GTA 6's console launch, and November 26th.
"For me, this vote comes down to ensuring employees at Rockstar get honesty and openness surrounding the decisions that affect them," Rockstar Game Workers Union Committee Member Shanti Easton-Steel said in a press release issued by IWBG earlier this week. "When management choices are kept hidden, we can’t properly address issues like the gender pay gap, the uneven and ever-changing policies on overtime pay, or the concerns many co-workers hold around job security post-release."
Also set to come to a head around the time GTA 6 plops onto consoles is the employment tribunal which has seen Rockstar and the IWGB butt heads over the former's decision to fire 34 mostly UK-based staffers last year. Rockstar have accused the fired staff of risking the leaking of confidential info while posting on a Discord server set up by union organisers. The IWGB have accused Rockstar of being motivated by a desire to union bust.
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As we've previously covered, a vote on recognition of a union made up of UK-based Rockstar Games devs is set to take place around GTA 6's console launch on November 19th. The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union, whom the Rockstar staff are working with in their efforts to organise, have now revealed just how many workers the Rockstar could end up encompassing if the recognition vote is successful. It's not a small number.
As reported by Game File, when asked to put a number on their claim that the vote could result in "the biggest recognised union in the UK games sector", the IWGB said that the union’s bargaining unit would be made up of more than 1,600 workers. That, according to the union, is nearly everyone at Rockstar's UK studios below the director level. The director level's typically corpospeak for senior management, or the point at which you go from regular staff to the lowest rungs of the exec ladder which leads all the way up to the biggest of gold-plated desks.
Naturally, this UK Rockstar union won't include Rockstar staff based in other studios across the world, including the US and India. Recent reporting from Bloomberg cited Rockstar's total staff number as being over 4,700 people in 12 places across the globe.
The UK union recognition votes will be held from November 12th, a week before GTA 6's console launch, and November 26th.
"For me, this vote comes down to ensuring employees at Rockstar get honesty and openness surrounding the decisions that affect them," Rockstar Game Workers Union Committee Member Shanti Easton-Steel said in a press release issued by IWBG earlier this week. "When management choices are kept hidden, we can’t properly address issues like the gender pay gap, the uneven and ever-changing policies on overtime pay, or the concerns many co-workers hold around job security post-release."
Also set to come to a head around the time GTA 6 plops onto consoles is the employment tribunal which has seen Rockstar and the IWGB butt heads over the former's decision to fire 34 mostly UK-based staffers last year. Rockstar have accused the fired staff of risking the leaking of confidential info while posting on a Discord server set up by union organisers. The IWGB have accused Rockstar of being motivated by a desire to union bust.
Grand Theft Auto VI
PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in
Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.Read more: Full article on www.rockpapershotgun.com
What do you think about this?