220 employees at Rockstar North have signed a letter condemning the dismissal of 31 workers amid union busting accusations.
The letter, which was handed to senior management, saw staff demand “the immediate reinstatement of their colleagues” after they were fired on October 30.
At the time, The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accused Rockstar of union busting as all workers affected were members.
The developer claimed that these dismissals were due to people leaking “confidential information,” and were not related to union activities.
This led to protests outside Rockstar North and Take-Two Interactive’s offices in London and Edinburgh last Friday (November 7).
Further protests are planned to take place outside Take-Two’s office in London today, in addition to a rally outside the company’s Paris headquarters led by members of Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV).
Another protest will take place outside Holyrood in Edinburgh next week (November 18) “to coincide with a cross-party parliamentary group meeting on Scotland’s game industry.”
As Eurogamer reports, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West Christine Jardine brought up claims of Rockstar’s union busting in the House of Commons earlier this week.
Jardine noted on social media that she “urged ministers to support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again.”
Earlier this week, the IWGB filed formal legal claims against Rockstar amid the union busting accusations.
It claimed that Rockstar “declined” to meet with the union regarding the dismissals.
“Despite our representation and attempts to meet with Rockstar to resolve the matter through negotiation, Rockstar have declined and persisted to terminate members of the union in a manner that is unacceptable and unlawful,” it said.
“Accordingly, we have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the Claimants. Our members allege that Rockstar’s conduct constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting.”
