Dozens join rally calling for Rockstar Games to reinstate sacked workers

Dozens of people have joined a rally in Edinburgh calling on Rockstar Games to reinstate the 31 workers it sacked last week in what a union has described as a “ruthless act of union-busting”.

Workers who lost their jobs were joined by current staff members outside the company’s offices in Edinburgh on Thursday, while a similar protest is understood to have taken place at the firm’s London office.

Many held placards reading: “Say sorry, be nice” – a phrase associated with the company’s boss Sam Houser – “Grant Theft Employment”, and “Union busted?”.

They were led in chants and addressed by various speakers, and cheered whenever passing drivers beeped their horns in support.

Rockstar is the company behind the multibillion-dollar Grant Theft Auto franchise, and employs thousands of people in offices around the world.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has alleged the company sacked 31 UK-based staff members last Thursday because of their trade union activity.

The company disputes the allegation, saying in a statement to Bloomberg that action was taken against “a small number of individuals” after they were found to be leaking “confidential information” in a public forum.

IWGB organiser Fred Carter said: “I think they’re (the workers) shocked to see a company that makes so much profit, that’s such a huge part of the UK game sector, show such blatant disrespect and disregard for the rights of workers to have a union, such blatant disregard for the cost of their livelihoods, of losing their jobs, and such blatant disregard for UK employment law.

“Every single person who’s been fired in the UK from Rockstar is a union member.

“They’ve been fired for exercising their legal rights to speak to each other about their pay and conditions, to build a union in their workplace, to build a fairer, better workplace where the people who build games have a voice in how they’re made.”

Asked about the impact the company’s actions have had on the workforce, Mr Carter said: “People didn’t know what was going on, that their co-workers were being torn from their desks and marched out of the building.

“I think (there was) real outrage, loss, grief.

“I’ve stood with people while they cried this week, I’ve sat in people’s kitchens because they’re too afraid to talk about their work in public or outside the workplace.

“This is a community that’s in shock and in anger.”

Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer joined the protest, and he described the firm’s actions as “bang out of order”.

The MSP added: “Nerds like me have sunk far too much of our lives into the brilliant games that they produce, but it’s the workers here who produce it.

“Rockstar have an opportunity now to hold up their hands to say that they got this catastrophically wrong and reinstate those workers.

“They need to do that immediately and then get round the table with the workers to recognise their union-organising activities.”

He said Rockstar could face a boycott of its products if it does not resolve the situation.

“If Rockstar wants to continue being one of the most profitable companies in entertainment, they need to treat their staff with respect, because their customers, those of us who buy their games, will be standing with their staff.”

In a statement released after news of the sackings broke last week, IWGB president Alex Marshall said: “Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry.

“This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.”

Rockstar Games has been approached for comment.