Anonymous unions... Now that's a concept I'm very interested in. Where does the negotiating power come from?
Game Workers Unite
131–140 of 199 posts
Re: Game Workers Unite
#132Why only game workers? Why not software workers/codewriters in general? I'd prefer something closer to SAG than the auto workers union personally.
I would never join or pay into such a union. I'm so happy to be able to make employment agreements freely, and if anyone threatens that, I will criticize them. If developers in the game industry want to take crappy employment agreements because they're infatuated with video games, that is their right. The skillset is portable, and the instability of standard game dev positions is well known, game developers in genera…
If you're going to criticize anyone who threatens your ability to make employment agreements freely, does that include corporations?
Apple, google, and other companies we're already found working in a cartel to keep software engineer wages down, and those were just the high profile explicit agreements.
I don't get people like you who find it ok for corporations to pool capital and output from all their employees in the negotiation process, but the second employees want to work together to even the playing field it's a deadly sin
Re: Game Workers Unite
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have been working in the tech industry for 5+ years now (not too long, I know). I have yet to see a company that commonly identifies low performers and successfully terminates their employment for performance reasons only. In fact, the three times I have seen companies terminate employment after somebody was put on a PIP it was directly related to other mental health issues the employee was going through at the tim…
I have seen people fired for incompetence. In fact, I appreciate companies where that happens at least every now and then. I've left jobs where incompetence wasn't corrected in some way. Though generally what happens is employees get basically cost-of-living raises indefinitely. Over a decade or two, the company ends up with a half-price employee, compared to market rates. Also we don't have to be good at evaluating…
> Giving raises on certification...
As far as I can tell everything you're describing is the primary way that people are currently promoted and how compensation is decided. The real unicorns aren't companies with billion dollar valuations, but companies where you can just focus on solving problems and have your manager recognize that with compensation and promotion.
Just like unicorns... they don't exist.
I still feel like my question stands. Are we actually so good at these things now that unionizing would actually harm us? Or is this claim that unions will make it harder actually just hand-waving and ignoring the fact that we're already terrible at this kind of evaluation only we (workers) have no recourse against a feelingless corporate structure that exists to min-max productivity and compensation for the benefit of shareholder value?
Re: Game Workers Unite
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, lot to unpack there. The thing is they generally do quit, if you look at Gamasutra's yearly industry survey you'll see a huge bimodal distribution of less than 3 years and 10+ years. The average industry career ends up being about 3 years. Here's a situation that I saw a lot when I was in the industry: 1. Get a new gig in a different town(usually because the previous studio cratered). Sell your house, move your…
They force people out who have 15+ years. (eg. It was age 37 for me). Thankfully they asked me to write documentation and train a bevy of testers to take my place before letting me go (once the eight race tracks for the game I was creating were completely designed). The saddest thing (of this story)? This game, from a major mobile publisher, never even made it out of beta because their monetization component had no t…
I wonder why that is. Would you say your company's founder started out with a passion for games or was it more corporate/started for profit?
I have wondered if the high failure rate is a mismatch of three key issues; passion and understanding for the medium in the company culture, management not knowing how to manage technical/artistic creators, and then the fickle nature of the target market.
Great games made by amazing developers can tank because they don't have the business chops. Management can't get a handle on what they are actually managing, because that has proven notoriously hard even when the software product isn't nearly as complicated as a game.
Even in ideal circumstances with a great team, game, and execution, your game can flop because it just wasn't flavor of the month or you released behind a more favored title.
I would love to hear what people think a great studio would look like.
Re: Game Workers Unite
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would never join or pay into such a union. I'm so happy to be able to make employment agreements freely, and if anyone threatens that, I will criticize them. If developers in the game industry want to take crappy employment agreements because they're infatuated with video games, that is their right. The skillset is portable, and the instability of standard game dev positions is well known, game developers in genera…
If you're going to criticize anyone who threatens your ability to make employment agreements freely, does that include corporations? Apple, google, and other companies we're already found working in a cartel to keep software engineer wages down, and those were just the high profile explicit agreements. I don't get people like you who find it ok for corporations to pool capital and output from all their employees in t…
The problem for me is that if other software developers decide to join together in a union then the government lets them negotiate on my behalf even though I do not consent.
Re: Game Workers Unite
#136I 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 ?
Libertarians should, in principle, be okay with people exercising their personal freedom to form a union.
The issue is that people not in the union are not free to pursue their own negotiations.
Re: Game Workers Unite
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're going to criticize anyone who threatens your ability to make employment agreements freely, does that include corporations? Apple, google, and other companies we're already found working in a cartel to keep software engineer wages down, and those were just the high profile explicit agreements. I don't get people like you who find it ok for corporations to pool capital and output from all their employees in t…
The problem for me is that if other software developers decide to join together in a union then the government lets them negotiate on my behalf even though I do not consent.
I feel like that's the wrong view. The union is negotiating with the company and saying, work with only union employees or the union leaves en masse. Why would you have the right to just override the unions deal with the company?
Re: Game Workers Unite
#138I 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 organi…
First (and main) step to solve the inequality problem.
Re: Game Workers Unite
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem for me is that if other software developers decide to join together in a union then the government lets them negotiate on my behalf even though I do not consent.
I feel like that's the wrong view. The union is negotiating with the company and saying, work with only union employees or the union leaves en masse. Why would you have the right to just override the unions deal with the company?
Because it's clearly discrimination to only hire union members. Same as only hiring christians.
Re: Game Workers Unite
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm amazed that this is legal in a first world country- it would be illegal to do this in a couple of third-world countries I'm personally familiar with: the laws state that if you're a on contract for more than a certain number of months, you automatically become a permanent employee. Firing and rehiring for the same position as a contractor is straight-up illegal.
There are almost always loopholes and gray areas. I'm pretty sure its illegal, but here is one example: I hire you to rebuild my kitchen; I eventually 'run out of money' and lay you off. 3 months later I rehire you to finish the kitchen. Are you really a full-time employee? Am I responsible for your healthcare? Or are you still just a contractor? In this example, i'll bet most would say no , you're just a contractor.…
But if your contract with the "non-employee" says that they may not work for any employer for n years or that they may not use what they learned from working at your business elsewhere then I say they deserve compensation.
It is obvious to me that if you want an employee to not work for someone else, you need to pay them the same as if they're working for you. This is how things work at the executive level. This is how it should work for everyone. It is the least we can do.