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US Labor Organization AFL-CIO Urges Game Developers To Unionize In Open Letter (gamasutra.com) 158

Posted by BeauHD from the call-to-action dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gamasutra: 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.

"My question is this: what have you gotten in return? They get rich. They get notoriety. They get to be crowned visionaries and regarded as pioneers. What do you get? Outrageous hours and inadequate paychecks. Stressful, toxic work conditions that push you to your physical and mental limits. The fear that asking for better means risking your dream job. [...] Change will happen when you gain leverage by joining together in a strong union. And, it will happen when you use your collective voice to bargain for a fair share of the wealth you create every day. No matter where you work, bosses will only offer fair treatment when you stand together and demand it."
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US Labor Organization AFL-CIO Urges Game Developers To Unionize In Open Letter More

US Labor Organization AFL-CIO Urges Game Developers To Unionize In Open Letter

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  • True (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vlad30 ( 44644 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:22PM (#58128796)
    But I find these days most Union leaders are more in it for themselves than the workers and they are looking for more union due paying members to support their lifestyle or political ambition

    • Re:True (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jeff4747 ( 256583 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:25PM (#58128810)

      or political ambition

      Could you point to a recent election where a union leader won? Or even ran?

      Or is this more along the lines of "political ambition" in the form of "lobbying", which is an excellent business practice when corporations do it, but horrifyingly evil when unions do it?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It is horrifyingly evil when it is a public union, just mildly evil for private sector unions.

      • Re:True (Score:4)

        by Daemonik ( 171801 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:42PM (#58128880) Homepage

        Or is this more along the lines of "political ambition" in the form of "lobbying", which is an excellent business practice when corporations do it, but horrifyingly evil when unions do it?

        Didn't you read the memo? Anything that can be done without paying buckets of money to a corporation is automatically heresy and to be publicly scorned.

      • Re:True (Score:4, Informative)

        by vlad30 ( 44644 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:45PM (#58128902)
        Bill Shorten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] Likely to be Australia's Next Prime minister and most of his party are former Union Leaders and when they win the leader is either former union leader or union managemnt of some sort. While this may not be the case in the US we have a problem with unions in Australia https://www.theguardian.com/au... [theguardian.com] Note the US is one country on slashdot, the rest of the world is represented here also

        • Bill Shorten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] Likely to be Australia's Next Prime minister and most of his party are former Union Leaders and when they win the leader is either former union leader or union managemnt of some sort. While this may not be the case in the US we have a problem with unions in Australia https://www.theguardian.com/au... [theguardian.com] Note the US is one country on slashdot, the rest of the world is represented here also

          Yes we have a problem with unions, but we would definitely be worse off without them. Going of the most recent royal commission we also have a problem with banks but we would be worse without them. And spoiler alert here but we have a problem with aged care in this country. It's pretty unfair to use the results of a royal commission, most of which have already been dealt with, to claim we have a major problem, they have proven quite crucial in dealing with hidden problems before they get too out of control

      • Why would you want to be a politician? Where you have a job where half the politicians kiss your butt?
        I have never seen a Unionized work place any better off then a non-unioned. I often see more firing and worse working conditions.
        As the Union cares more about numbers then quality. So they will negotiate firing skilled workers to bring in double unskilled workers. The extra salary bonus they may get gets sucked into Union dues. If one is forced to strike then that salary increase is lost due to the day

        • You've never looked, then (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Or you've looked for the "wrong things", i.e. you've looked for higher returns or something to do with capitalist "winning".

          Pay is better when unionised. That weekend you get off? Unions did that. Minimum wage? Unions. Go tell me that if there were no minimum wage those on minimum wage would be better off.

    • There are some cases in which union protection is important. Unfortunately, they don't always provide that protection, and one wonders why. One case where the union fell flat recently is the proposition in California that passed requiring changes in how EMTs handled emergencies during their breaks. This was promoted as making sure that emergency services were available to all, but they already were. The only change was that the big ambulance firm would no longer have to pay them overtime if they had to drop everything and take a call during their breaks.

      The EMT's union, which I think was the same one that now wants to unionize game developers, declined to write anything in opposition to this proposition, and didn't mount any viable publicity campaign aginst the proposition. Thus, those EMTs who are out to save your life got screwed over.

      • the big ambulance firm

        There's your problem right there.

      • We've let Unions get gutted for 40 years (Score:5, Insightful)

        by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday February 16, 2019 @10:42AM (#58131146)
        If you don't maintain a thing it breaks down. What did you expect? Try skipping your cars oil changes for 40 years and let me know how that turns out for you. And do that while somebody is putting sugar in your tank.

        We need to start passing pro-Union laws to protect American's collective bargaining rights again. Eliminating "right to work" (my God the right wing is good at marketing) laws is a good start. Also we need a ton of new laws banning companies from punishing workers for Unionizing. And anti Union busting laws too.
    • for an organization with 12.5 million (que Dr Evil pinky) members. That's 2.4 cents per person. If he's in it for himself he's doing a _terrible_ job of it.

      He'd be much better off going into Televangist work. Creflo Dollar's worth $27 million and has been doing his schtick for about 30 years (give or take). That's about $900k/yr. He did that on the backs of just 30,000 folks in his church.

    • Local Union President Here (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      For years as union president. Total compensation = 0. Sorry if the facts contradict your opinions.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      If I even mention the "U" word in any workplace, I'd get sent out the door, and definitely blacklisted. Hell, I actually was told I was blacklisted for life from most places, just because I used to work at the county, and was a part of a local union there.

      Of course, technically blacklists are illegal, but hey, when you use an offshore third party that gives a thumbs up or thumbs down on employees, you skirt that law.

      • "when you use an offshore third party that gives a thumbs up or thumbs down on employees, you skirt that law."

        Details, please?

        • It maybe illegal to blacklist but let's say I am HR or a manager. I can say nothing wrong but in a dread tone mixed with some sighs say something like " sigh breath. Yeah he worked here. Uh huh in a sarcastic tone. He did X for Y time. I then will be silent. When asked if you were rehireable I say sharply and rudely SIR! I can't answer that!

          Technically I followed the law and didn't defame you if you recorded my words. However, you most certainly would have a rescinded job offer.

          There are ways around things

  • That's actually a pretty good comparison (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:45PM (#58128898)

    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.

    So let's take a look at that. How has unionizing helped income equality in the film industry? Apparently not much, as two of the five companies with the worst CEO to median worker pay ratio [usatoday.com] are film studios, and a third is a TV studio.

    If you look through that list, you get the sense that the presence of robust competition within the industry is the important factor, not unions. About a third of the companies on that list enjoy IP monopolies (copyrights, patents) or regulatory monopolies (ISPs). And several of the remainder have close to a natural monopoly.

    • ...or freedom from studio contracts that kept actors chained to MGM et all. Unions did that. Remember the writers strike from a few years ago? Where studios used loopholes to not pay writers for content streamed online, that the studios were profiting from? The word begins with a u...

      Apparently not much, as two of the five companies with the worst CEO to median worker pay ratio are film studios, and a third is a TV studio.

      So another union-bashing post were one of the primary complaints is...that unions

    • the Screen actors guild has for decades insured actors get paid for work. Yeah, everybody points to Tom Cruise's big paydays and forgets all the smaller productions out there.

      And don't forget all the blue collar folks who make movies happen. Sets don't build themselves. I know guys who did that work and they wouldn't trade their Union for anything.

      As for Income inequity, their Union got them better pay. If the boss makes 100,000,000,000/yr and your making $100,000 yeah, income inequality is pretty ba

  • AFL-CIO is Right but not the answer (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15, 2019 @05:46PM (#58128904)

    Look at German unions, intimately tied to the businesses their workers are employed. The business’ welfare is the union’s welfare. Less stupid shit happens.

    Mega unions like AFL-CIO not so much. The big wigs in it aren’t working stiffs at the same places themselves but just political whores. They have so many businesses under their belt, they strike and the employees suffer because the business dies, they don’t care because they think they proved a point. It’s just trading one master for another.

    The game industry needs to unionize but the workers don’t need a new master.

    • with a more centralized workforce. You need a big organization like the AFL-CIO so that folks in one industry can strike and be supported by folks half a world away until the strike's over.

      And I mentioned this on another thread but the big wigs don't make all that much. It only sounds like a lot down in the trenches because we've lost so much ground over the years. Their president makes $300k/yr, which is ridiculously low for an organization the size of the AFL-CIO. The chick with a nice rack who hocks
      • Sales commissions? You're conflating things. We've also seen strikes over ridiculous demands supported by others so that's not a great argument. Mindless solidarity is just.... Well, they have flags for that.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Cederic ( 9623 )

        You need a big organization like the AFL-CIO so that folks in one industry can strike and be supported by folks half a world away until the strike's over.

        That's entirely fucking orthogonal to your point about German unions and centralised workforce, except possibly being proven entirely fucking wrong by it.

        . Their president makes $300k/yr, which is ridiculously low

        No. It's not.

        a network of workers who'll support you when you strike and who you'll support when they strike

        Fuck that. You strike, it's on you. Don't be expecting me to support you. I'm not asking for handouts when I quit my job because I don't like it.

        You have to do it nationally or they just move to a new state every time you try it.

        So they move to a new country instead. See also: The last forty years.

        Apply for a job, negotiate your pay and conditions and if you don't like it, get a new one. It's not fucking hard.

  • Excuse me while I laugh my ass completely off...

    No...

  • EA, Activision, et all. They deserve this.

  • Who wants to pay a US "game" professional union wages?
    With overtime?
    English speaking nations with different tax laws and exchange rates exist.
    Their workers can code and can be further educated to new learn game code.
    Their university system educates on merit. Math and code. Their artists can paint, draw, animate. They have musicians ready for any type of game.
    Their nations gov will offer code education, great tax concessions to attract any type of new US investment and no US style activity.
    Low cos

  • They get rich. They get notoriety. They get to be crowned visionaries and regarded as pioneers. What do you get? Outrageous hours and inadequate paychecks. Stressful, toxic work conditions that push you to your physical and mental limits. The fear that asking for better means risking your dream job

    Welcome to the world of employment.

    Please queue by the meat grinder on the left for your pay cheque.

  • I wish I could tell you it would improve things (Score:3)

    by nehumanuscrede ( 624750 ) on Friday February 15, 2019 @09:13PM (#58129680)

    Doing so, however, would be a lie.

    Vlad30 nailed it in his post and had his Score not already been maxed out, I would have tossed some mod points his way.

    I've worked within the confines of a Unionized company for more than twenty years now and, to be honest, they impress me less and less every year. Thankfully / hopefully, I will retire from this circus soon.

    When contract negotiations begin, Union Leadership will fight tooth and nail for two things:

    1) Maintaining or adding head count
    2) Pay raises for their members

    While the hard core Unionites will disagree with me, the Union fights for the above for one reason only: Getting one or both ultimately leads to more Union Dues being paid to the Union. ( #1 is obvious, #2 is because Union Dues are a percentage of a Union Members base pay. So a pay raise for the member = a pay raise for the Union )

    That's it. That's all. That is the ONLY goal the Union has. Make. More. Money.

    This is why our healthcare premiums keep increasing every year because the Union doesn't give a damn about how much their members have to pay out of pocket for health insurance. As long as they get their dues, everything is golden. No one seems to notice that their meager annual raise gets negated by the rising health care premiums.

    Sometimes I wonder if the Union has a secret agreement with the company during negotiations to get that paltry raise and / or headcount in exchange for allowing the company to dump more of its healthcare costs on their employees. The Union doesn't lose anything in the process, so it's a Win-Win for them. Not so much for the employees though.

    That said, the other problem with Unionizing is mediocrity.

    The Rockstars will do their thing for a while, until they ask themselves why they're busting their ass while the Idiot ( who doesn't even know how to turn his computer on without help ) is making the exact same pay and benefits. Eventually, they give up, scale back their efforts and their light doesn't shine quite as brightly as it used to.

    On the flip side, the Idiot realizes he doesn't really need to bust his ass like the Rockstar does since they are making the same pay and benefits. There isn't any motivation or incentive here to learn or increase their productivity because, in a Union, there can't be a pay / benefit difference for those performing the same work. This person does just enough so they don't get fired.

    As a result, over time, the performance of any given group tends to trend downwards towards the Idiot side of things. They meet somewhere in the middle and you end up with a team who is mediocre at best.

    The final insult is when the layoffs start. Once Unionized, your amazing Rockstar skills are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is Seniority. Whomever has been there the longest, will have the most Seniority. Layoffs start from the least Senior and work their way up to the top. So if you're a Rockstar who has been there for five years, but the Idiot has been there longer, guess who gets the axe first ? :|

    Once upon a time, the Unions definitely had their place in the working world. These days, however, I think they've been corrupted by the money they bring in and the idea that they represent their members is merely a smokescreen for their true agenda.

    That being: Make as much money as they can at the expense of those they're pretending to represent.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cederic ( 9623 )

      That said, the other problem with Unionizing is mediocrity.

      I've yet to see a union advocate argue that one away either.

      Technically a union can support and demand training and reskilling for employees. The ones in Germany and the UK do.

      In the UK at least, that doesn't however sufficiently compensate for the sheer difficulty they cause in removing incompetent fuckwits.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Uberbah ( 647458 )

        I've yet to see a union advocate argue that one away either.

        Could always ask one as its an easy one to answer. The "unions just protect the lazy" trope is built on the notion that Bill, union worker, is happy to run over and do his own job plus Steve's when Steve slacks off or doesn't know what he's doing. Or that Mary, 3rd grade teacher, is ecstatic to have to reteach math for some of her incoming students because their second grade teacher was incompetent at it.

        But of course humans aren't built that way

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cederic ( 9623 )

          Are you shitting me?
          Bill bitches, the union complains that the company hasn't trained Steve properly and the managers are bullying him.
          Mary bitches, the union complains that the Government keep changing education standards.

          Meanwhile the school tries to sack that second grade teacher, gets sued for wrongful dismissal, sexism, bullying, creating a hostile workplace and treating staff as a disposable resource.

          Which makes this anti-union trope both obnoxious and facile.

          Unions protect mediocrity. That's not a trope.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Uberbah ( 647458 )

      That's it. That's all. That is the ONLY goal the Union has. Make. More. Money.

      Which is a total sin in an organization where the CEO and the shareholders Want. To. Make. More. Money? You do know that union. operations. cost. money? Negotiating, recruiting and lobbying - same thing the company does with the profits you produce, but class traitors like yourself never have a problem with?

      This is why our healthcare premiums keep increasing every year because the Union doesn't give a damn about how much their m

  • Here we come!

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