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Indie studio Vodeo Games has voluntarily recognized a union formed by employees and independent contractors that is affiliated with major labor union the Communications Workers of America. According to CWA, the group of approximately 10 workers — Vodeo Workers United — has thus become the first certified union at a video game studio in North America.
“All workers deserve a union and a say in how their workplace is run, no matter where they work, what their employment status is, or what kind of conditions they work under,” Vodeo Games producer Myriame Lachapelle said in a statement. “We have been inspired by the growing worker organizing within the gaming industry and hope we can set a new precedent for industry-wide standards that will better our shared working conditions and inspire others to do the same.”
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The union will bargain on behalf of eligible workers including staffers and independent contractors, the latter of whom make up over half the bargaining unit, at the Beast Breaker developer. All eligible workers voted in favor of the union, Vodeo Workers United has said, and bargaining unit members all work remotely, both in the U.S. and in Canada.
In a statement, Vodeo Games founder and game co-director Asher Vollmer (who is also the creator of Threes) said that the company has long been “a proud pro-worker studio” with four-day workweeks and unlimited vacation time with a minimum that must be taken. When he was first approached by Vodeo Workers United, “it was a no-brainer to step back and proudly watch them do what no other game company in North America has.” He added, “I look forward to continuing to create incredible games with the brilliant minds at Vodeo.”
The CWA first announced its intention to organize video game workers — whose industry in the U.S. is largely nonunion — among other tech and digital industry workers at the start of 2020 when it launched CODE, or the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees. The union, which represents around 700,000 workers in industries including telecommunications, IT and news media, among others, is also behind an organizing drive at Image Comics, which may prove to be a test case for major comic book companies also working in a largely nonunion industry.
The past few years have seen some notable developments in video games labor in the U.S., with Activision Blizzard employees walking out several times this year over working conditions for marginalized groups and layoffs and Riot Games workers walking out in 2019 in protest of the company’s use of forced arbitration.
The Vodeo union will now work toward negotiating a first contract with the company. Vodeo Workers United said in a statement that they hoped their union would serve as an example to others: “By ensuring more workers like us have a protected voice on the job, we can set a precedent for new industry-wide standards that will better our shared working conditions,” they tweeted.
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