Its funny how they always think that the business who they think they need a union to protect them from would just go "shucks guys guess they got us, guess we gotta start paying them more money and being nicer, good game!"
It's always fun to see who advocate for that shit. They really think they will be in charge come the "revolution" and not put against the wall with all the other useful idiots...
Former employee Stephan Reilly tells GamesIndustry.biz that 16 of 17 members voted in favour of unionsation at Joydrop. The voting period concluded on December 19, 2023. According to Reilly, Mikulec then proceeded to terminate 14 of those who voted.
They had 17 members. 14 of them were laid off. There was only one person out of 17 who didn't vote for unionization. He didn't happen to be one of the lay offs.
So they went from 17 people to 3. Two are union-members. One is not.
Prior to the termination, Joydrop won a Tech Alliance grant for $40,000 in November 2023, and was in the process of receiving Ontario Creates and Canada Media Fund grants which "several" of those terminated helped to compile last summer.
But fuck this company anyway. "Grant Money." I hope they lose every single cent of it to the vendors they probably owe. Fucking leeches.
I would go further and say that unions for any field that don't involve you being on site, with high chance of serious injury/death, and intense physical labor are retarded. You don't need a fucking union to make lattes. You should have one if you work in a steel forge or a construction site.
This isn't to say that unions are some perfect thing. They are absolutely a double edged sword. But having been on the receiving end of abusive management more than once, I do appreciate being in one at the end of the day.
Unions are necessary in some industries that are highly dangerous and require employees to regularly be exposed to hazardous conditions for long periods, such as refining, chemical plants, steel mills, construction, etc., and the need for worker safety and wind down time is paramount. Developing video games is not an industry that makes any sense to have unions.
If they had the skills that would give them leverage to force anything on their employer they wouldn't have to form a union. They could just tell them "give me what I want or I'm starting a new company".
This is almost as amusing as when google laid off two employees in the middle of them whining to the city council to make google recognize their union.
Its funny how they always think that the business who they think they need a union to protect them from would just go "shucks guys guess they got us, guess we gotta start paying them more money and being nicer, good game!"
That is why we need Real Communism™ to seize the means of production, tovarish. No half-measures like unions.
It's always fun to see who advocate for that shit. They really think they will be in charge come the "revolution" and not put against the wall with all the other useful idiots...
Because they can get away with it. This doesn't happen outside of north America.
Not sure why this is just being reported now. Layoffs occurred in Jan 2024.
Canadian union brought Labour Board complaints at the time. But the link in the article suggests no new updates or resolution since Jan.
Cursory search suggests the company was formed in 2013 and is based out of London, ON. They seem to port console games instead of making new IP.
Surprisingly Based Canada?
Their Twitter account looks dead. But they were retweeting other users with Pride logos.
You don't hate journalists enough.
They had 17 members. 14 of them were laid off. There was only one person out of 17 who didn't vote for unionization. He didn't happen to be one of the lay offs.
So they went from 17 people to 3. Two are union-members. One is not.
But fuck this company anyway. "Grant Money." I hope they lose every single cent of it to the vendors they probably owe. Fucking leeches.
Looks like they left two too many.
slowly plays the harmonica
I saw mention that the cuts left the company employing 3 people.
Presumably with the last man being the owner.
Unions for any field where you don't need to be on site to do the job are retarded.
I would go further and say that unions for any field that don't involve you being on site, with high chance of serious injury/death, and intense physical labor are retarded. You don't need a fucking union to make lattes. You should have one if you work in a steel forge or a construction site.
This isn't to say that unions are some perfect thing. They are absolutely a double edged sword. But having been on the receiving end of abusive management more than once, I do appreciate being in one at the end of the day.
They missed 2.
Is game studios and publishers is willing to rip off customers.. why wouldnt they rip off its workers? Lawl.
Game studios are notorious for ripping off their workers.
lol
Good. fuck unions
Unions are necessary in some industries that are highly dangerous and require employees to regularly be exposed to hazardous conditions for long periods, such as refining, chemical plants, steel mills, construction, etc., and the need for worker safety and wind down time is paramount. Developing video games is not an industry that makes any sense to have unions.
If they had the skills that would give them leverage to force anything on their employer they wouldn't have to form a union. They could just tell them "give me what I want or I'm starting a new company".
This is almost as amusing as when google laid off two employees in the middle of them whining to the city council to make google recognize their union.
WARNING: UNPOPULAR TAKE INCOMING.
If there's any industry that needs unions, it's the game industry. 7 day workweeks of 16 hours without overpay is simply not acceptable.