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Game Workers Unite

gameworkersunite.org

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61–70 of 199 posts

Re: Game Workers Unite

#61

Post by 49531 »

I am so glad to see this happening!

There are a lot of reasons why game workers need to organize, but it doesn't have to stop there. Tech workers in general can make the lives of their teammates a lot better by banding together.

We can also fight for the rights of others, why couldn't Amazon employees fight for the rights of Amazon's warehouse workers?

Also, things like discrimination and abuse are combated by organized workforces faster than they are by HR departments, especially when such abuse comes from managers. No individual worker is going to negotiate with a company on equal footing. It requires an organization of labor to do that.

Re: Game Workers Unite

#62

Post by walshemj »

briandear wrote: post #58
49531 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All unions have concrete ways to make people's lives better. That's why they exist. This website glosses over them but they are pretty basic. Things like open salaries, control over agile process, overtime for on-call, overtime pay for crunch times, more control over hiring / firing.

Why would I want my salary to be the same as everyone else? If I am better than the next person and I am a better negotiator, why should my salary be identical to the lazy fuck that has the same number of years of experience? The mistake of these Marxist organizations is that they assume that workers are interchangeable parts. Maybe on an assembly line that is true, but engineering software or hardware or designing t…

Err that's not how it works in M&P (managerial and professional ) unions.

SAG members don't all get paid the same ie Matt Damon doesn't get the same as say some lucky actor whos landed a lead role in pilot season.

And don't take this wrong you may think you are special but your employer doesn't

Re: Game Workers Unite

#64

Post by adamsea »

Meph504 wrote: post #49

I see a lot of people arguing about how unions protect workers, and in some cases that is true, but in my experience many have been corrupted. You only have to look at the coal workers, steel workers, and several other unions, that's leadership has been corrupted, and serve their own interest at the expense of everyone else. Additionally, things like agency fees, where even if you work somewhere with a Union, and you…

Yeah but the United Mine Workers Association (a coal union) got us the eight hour workday - before that, they just exploited the shit out of you.

"Back when the government first tracked workers' hours in 1890, full-time manufacturing employees worked a backbreaking 100 hours each week. Years of pressure from laborer organizers, along with changes from companies like Ford Motor, reformed working conditions in the U.S. and protected workers from schedules that endangered their health and safety."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/03/how-the-8-hour-workday-chang...

Re: Game Workers Unite

#65

Post by booleandilemma »

checkyoursudo wrote: post #34
horsecaptin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, let's call it compensation. That is a good umbrella term that includes salary, overtime and benefits. The compensation for game workers sucks compared to their counterparts in other software fields. This is probably because it is sexier to be a game dev than, say, working at Salesforce. It is a good idea for game industry workers to form a union or guild.

Sexier seems like an odd choice of word. I assume you mean, being a video game designer is sexier to the person doing the job? Low pay. Low prestige. Long hours. I mean, give me two of those and maybe I'll consider the sexiness. Don't you think it's that a lot of young future-Salesforce-developers think that making games will be a lot more like playing games than it really is? (PSA: Making games usually is not at all…

A better word might be “glamorous”.

Re: Game Workers Unite

#66

Post by prewett »

leadingthenet wrote: post #32
ttoinou wrote: post #24

I have read the whole website and failed to see one concrete example of action that the union could take to make game-industry employees' life better Game Workers Unite is a broad-reaching organization that seeks to connect pro-union activists, exploited workers, and allies across borders and across ideologies in the name of building a unionized game industry. Even compatible with the libertarian ideology :p ?

Sure, if it's of the left-wing type (ie. the original one before Americans twisted the meaning of this word, just like liberal).

Just curious, what words would you use to describe "American-style liberal" and "American-style left-wing"?

Re: Game Workers Unite

#67

Post by Paul_S »

A union will solve nothing other than leeching off some money from the workers (yay!). If you want to solve the problem you have to educate the credible little children who think working in gamedev is a privilege and are willing to work for free because "games!". Currently and for decades there has been an infinite supply of these, hence all the junior and mid roles pay less than half than any other industry.

Re: Game Workers Unite

#68

Post by [deleted] »

Meph504 wrote: post #49

I see a lot of people arguing about how unions protect workers, and in some cases that is true, but in my experience many have been corrupted. You only have to look at the coal workers, steel workers, and several other unions, that's leadership has been corrupted, and serve their own interest at the expense of everyone else. Additionally, things like agency fees, where even if you work somewhere with a Union, and you…

[deleted]

Re: Game Workers Unite

#70

Post by cabaalis »

I see no problem with game workers unionizing, but when I want to release my indie game on itch or steam and I am stopped because I have to pay dues to the union, we'll have a very real and unfriendly discussion.
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