Right as we approach the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar finds itself in court with its own former employees.
Last year, 34 workers across Rockstar - 31 in the UK, 3 in Canada - were suddenly dismissed. They claimed this was an act of union busting, firing select employees to sabotage organisation efforts within the studio. Rockstar claims these individuals were let go for sharing confidential information with people outside of the studio, in a Discord server used for unionisation efforts.
These workers had no recourse, and say they were let go suddenly and without explanation. This has driven them to fight through any means that they have - protesting outside of the studio, and now, challenging their dismissals in court.
As former Rockstar network programmer Rachel Crawford tells me, this is not the position these workers wanted to be in.
“It's been very difficult and very tiring,” Crawford - who was among the 31 workers in Scotland dismissed last year - states. “This could have all just been, as far as I'm concerned, a conversation that took place behind closed doors and was sorted out. It didn't have to be this enormous public spectacle that is draining for everyone involved.”
Indeed, the past year has seen Rockstar and the union go back and forth with their arguments, which are now being heard in an employment tribunal. But for Crawford and the other 33 workers who lost their jobs, their professional lives are at stake, as they fight to get their jobs back at a time when the gaming industry is incredibly volatile.
Crawford and her 33 colleagues were dismissed for “gross misconduct” back in October of last year. This news was publicised by the IWGB, with the union’s president Alex Marshall describing it as the “most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry.”
Days later, Rockstar issued a statement, refuting these claims.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/inside-rockstars-union-busting-trial/
