Pressure mounts against Rockstar and Take-Two as workers write letters of support for their coworkers who were recently fired by management. The letters condemn Rockstar for dismissing 31 employees who were involved with union activity, and demand that they be immediately reinstated.
According to the IWGB union, 220 letters have been written and sent to Rockstar’s management. It comes after IWGB launched legal action against Rockstar, accusing the company of unfair dismissal and union-busting.
Rockstar Workers Write In Support Of Fired Coworkers
“It’s heartwarming to see so many of our colleagues supporting us and holding management to account – during a period where Rockstar want us to feel scared, my brave former colleagues are marching straight up to our boss’s door and demanding our voices are heard and not backing down,” says an anonymous fired employee. “It’s clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting. Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out.”
So far, IWGB says that Rockstar has refused to engage in negotiations to have these workers reinstated. It remains to be seen if this internal pressure is enough to convince management to get around the negotiating table.
Rockstar has responded to the claims put forward by the union publicly. Rockstar claims that the workers were fired after sharing confidential information with outside sources in a Discord server. IWGB says that any actions from the employees were protected union activity, and Rockstar is in breach of UK law in firing them in this way.
Just after the news of the dismissals was made public, GTA 6 was delayed. The two incidents are almost definitely unrelated, as a delay had been rumoured for some time, but many highlighted that this was an even more questionable time to be getting rid of talent.
As the dispute continues, with another demonstration outside of Take Two Interactive’s office in London planned for tomorrow.
- Date Founded
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December 1, 1998
- CEO
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Sam Houser
- Subsidiaries
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Rockstar North, Rockstar Lincoln, Rockstar Toronto
- Headquarters
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New York, New York, United States
