Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Unionize Your Industry
Every week it seems there’s a new piece of horrifying games industry news. You’ll see graphic depictions of crunch, sickening revelations about harassment, staggering pay inequities — and the same flurry of tweets always follow.
There’ll be a lot of sadness and outrage. A few brave workers might chime in with their own stories. And in the past couple years, we’ve seen a new strain of response:
- “This is why we need a union”
- “Why aren’t we unionized already?”
- “UNIONIZE.”
The sentiment here is good — you’re right, and you should say it! But as a worker-organizer in games, I’m worried that so many of my peers are waiting for “the unions to come into the industry.”
Well, I have good news for you: the unions are here! At this very moment there are unions you can talk to to begin organizing your workplace. The resources have been developed, and the time to wait is over.
This week we saw an inspiring walkout organized by workers at Activision, Blizzard, and King (ABK) to protest the culture of harassment and abuse revealed in an explosive new lawsuit. While they haven’t identified as a union campaign, their organizing is a powerful example for us all: if we as workers want to see our conditions change, we need to rise up and change them ourselves.
We’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter encouraging workers in the industry to unionize, but sometimes these supporters’ involvement stops at posting. This gap needs to be closed, but it’s also understandable why we’re here; we live in a culture of compliance, and we aren’t taught about unionization in school.
So, let’s take the opportunity today to talk about what unions are, where the labor movement in games is at, and how you can get the union you’ve been waiting for!
Who Will Unionize The Industry?
It’s easy to look at a Twitter account like Game Workers Unite or the CODE-CWA union and think that those are the organizations who will unionize the industry. But it’s more complicated than that.
The base unit of any labor movement is the unionization campaign. This is an organized group of employees (“worker-organizers”) who systematically recruit their coworkers and build a union at their job. Campaigns usually partner with a national union infrastructure (CODE-CWA, OPEIU, IWW, etc.) for advice and resources. Worker-organizers from the campaign might also receive assistance from, and/or be members of, volunteer-based groups like Game Workers Unite (GWU) or my own Game Workers of Southern California (GWSC).
But let’s be clear: neither the national unions nor the volunteer groups are “unionizing” the workers in the campaign, nor are they “unionizing the industry.” We, the game workers, are unionizing ourselves. We are speaking to our fellow workers, building our own visions for a fairer workplace, and taking on management.
The labor movement in games has come a long way since its breakout at GDC 2018, and it’s great that people are excited about all this new momentum. But volunteer groups and national unions can’t just sweep into the industry and improve everyone’s conditions. The truth is that GWSC and GWU volunteers are the same as you: tired, hopeful game workers. Unions like the CWA do employ staff organizers, but they can’t run your campaign for you alone.
The resources are here, but we need to use them.
A Movement, Not A Subscription
In corporate America we’re conditioned to think of everything as a transactional service. We pay the hospital, we get medical treatment. We pay taxes, our barely-elected politicians maybe build some roads. We sign up for payments of $14.99 a month, we receive regular shipments of delightfully curated podcast chocolate.
Many think of unions in this way — you sign up with your dues, and your working conditions get better. But the best unions aren’t vending machines: they are democratic concentrations of worker power that can only exist insofar as workers participate in them.
The labor movement in tech and games has seen some big movement recently. Kickstarter workers unionized under OPEIU. Contractors at HCL unionized with the steelworkers. And workers partnered with the CWA won the first-ever game industry strike at Voltage, the first-ever white-collar tech contract at Glitch, and formed campaigns in various stages at Google, Mobilize, NPR, the New York Times, and so many other tech companies.
While these campaigns are all partnered with national unions, each is its own distinct movement. They have their own leadership and their own unique demands. They are nothing more and nothing less than a group of ordinary game and tech workers who were unhappy with their conditions, and decided to do something about it.
If you’re enthusiastic about unions entering the games industry, you can’t just wait for it to happen. There are so many people waiting to help you, but the one who needs to pull the trigger — the one who everyone is waiting on — is you.
Organizing 101
“Unionize” is a fiery word, but few understand what it actually entails. This article isn’t a comprehensive organizing guide, but let’s cover some of the basic principles and strategies.
You’ve Gotta Talk To People:
The bonds of solidarity and trust between your fellow workers is the lifeblood of your effort. Building these relationships means a lot of talking! You need to listen to your coworkers’ problems, ask what they’d like to see changed, and empower them to make it so by joining the campaign.
An organizing conversation requires agitation and education. Agitation is the process of helping your coworkers un-bury their anger, their frustrations, and their care for one another. Once reconnected with their feelings, education is the process of demonstrating how collective action is the way we take back control of our lives.
Don’t be discouraged if your coworkers start off seeming cynical or apathetic. When conditions are bad for so long and it feels like nothing will ever change, many use numbness as a coping mechanism. But by agitating, educating, and making genuine connections with your peers, you can build a truly transformative community at work!
Don’t Go Rogue
I’ve been a worker-organizer for 3 years, and let me tell you: I dream of hijacking the all-hands meeting and telling my boss exactly what I think of them, of dropping a stack of union pamphlets in the break room. Every day I dream of dropping the @everyone in #general:
But while cathartic, boisterous actions like this are counterproductive if you aren’t acting with an organized group of your fellow workers. They tip management off, invite retaliation before you can build a defense, and can even scare or alienate your coworkers who didn’t see it coming.
Building collective power is slow, methodical work. There is a time and a place for the flashy stuff, but it all depends on a foundation of trust, support, and a solid plan. Even the ABK walkout, put together in just a few days, showed all the marks of an immaculately organized action from highly coordinated workers. The lesson is clear — direct action is only effective when you’re organized enough to work together and have an escalation plan!
Stay Grounded
It’s easy (and valid!) to get excited about the industry-level implications of unionizing, but this can be distracting.
The reason to unionize is that you want your coworkers to feel safe, happy, and empowered. And you should care about your own future, too. We win by building “cultures of care,” where coworkers stick up for each other and sharing experiences of abuse and harassment is no longer taboo.
The macro-level stuff is important. National and international solidarity is important, within and beyond the games industry. Building the labor movement is maybe the single biggest way a worker can make a political impact on the world. But don’t forget why we do what we do: because we care about each other.
Ask for Help
Organizing is difficult, scary, frustrating, and yes, sometimes risky. But there are time-tested strategies and techniques that you can learn, and they work. You have resources! While volunteer groups and union staff organizers can’t talk to your coworkers for you, we’ll be there to help you every step of the way.
Partnering with a national union is a great way to keep your strategies sharp, and it gives you access to staff organizers and legal resources. Meanwhile, volunteer groups can provide additional resources, guidance, and connections! When the going gets tough, it makes all the difference to share a community with people who know the stresses of organizing and care as much as you do.
Don’t Count Yourself Out
Organizing is scary, difficult, and energy-intensive, and it’s easy to look at your life circumstances and assume that you aren’t capable of becoming an organizer.
Everyone’s situation is different, but I’d ask that you double-check that assumption. I know union organizers with families and children. I know time-strapped union organizers who work multiple jobs. I know organizers with vulnerable visa and contractor statuses. And I know many labor organizers with neurodivergencies like anxiety and autism that add a special challenge to talking with fellow workers.
None of this is to say that these obstacles don’t matter, or that we’re all in a position to drop everything and devote our lives to labor organizing. But I’ll ask that you give yourself a chance. Nobody is born an organizer, but the good news is that there are people waiting to help you and a whole spectrum of ways you can get involved.
Your First Unionization Steps
When I say that you have the power to make a difference, I mean that in the most direct and literal way. There are specific actions which you can take right now to better your and your co-workers’ circumstances and contribute to this movement.
Here are four actions — any or all of which you can take right now — to get you started!
Find a Friend:
One agitated worker is a lonely malcontent. Two or more is a movement. The best way you can get started in your organizing efforts is by finding some partners in crime, or even just one. Find a trusted coworker and schedule a lunch or coffee meeting to talk about working conditions!
Center the conversation on their concerns, and give them the space to share what’s important to them. You don’t want to drop the “U-word” right away, but if they seem to be on the same page, then you can talk about organizing! Worse comes to worse, you’ve had a nice lunch and connected with a friend.
Attend a Training:
The labor movement in games didn’t feel real to me until I attended my first Organizer Training 101. Up to that point I’d read about unions, and liked the idea of them, but that moment of walking into a union hall and learning from veteran organizers was transformative.
The US labor movement isn’t new; we’ve had over a century to refine organizing techniques and learn from our mistakes. The best way to set yourself up for success is to attend a training and learn the principles of organizing! Training sessions are a great way to make mistakes and build confidence, and incidentally quite a bit of fun.
If you’re in North America, we recommend modules I and II of CODE-CWA’s online training program. The IWW also runs a great program, which you can learn more about by contacting your local branch. Finally, you can learn about local training resources by contacting your nearest GWU chapter!
Join a Volunteer Community
As much as this article is about how volunteer orgs can’t unionize the industry alone, we still serve a crucial role in the movement. Groups like GWSC are incubators for new organizers, a connective tissue between different campaigns, a source of labor news and education, and a repository of resources for workers. Most importantly, we offer a supportive community to help us all feel less alone.
Here is an incomplete list of organizing communities you might be interested in joining:
- For Southern California Game Workers: Join me at Game Workers of Southern California! GWSC is a lovely community where we run education programs, community events, and monthly “Solidarity Nights,” where workers from all walks of organizing come together to share strategies and moral support. Join through our website here.
- For Other Game Industry Workers: Find your local Game Workers Unite chapter! Similar to GWSC, local GWU Chapters run education programs and provide communities for organizers. You can find your local chapter here. Depending on where you live, you may also have a games union that runs community events.
- For Tech Industry Workers: Check out the Tech Workers Coalition, a group of organizers and activists in our sister industry.
Contact a Staff Organizer:
If you’re interested in organizing a union at your workplace, you might want to reach out to a national union representative! Speaking with an experienced organizer is a great way to understand your workplace better and even get a campaign started.
If you’re a game worker in North America, we recommend you contact a CODE-CWA organizer through this form — it’s fast, free, and no strings are attached. You can also reach an IWW organizer here, or you can talk to your local union or Game Workers Unite Chapter to see if they have a connection they’d recommend.
You’ve Got This
This may all seem like a lot, but just take it one step at a time. Campaigns start small! It might feel silly to be an organizing committee of 5 in a company of 500, but that’s more or less how every successful campaign in the history of the labor movement has started.
Nobody is born an organizer, and we’re all learning as we go. You might not feel like you have anything to contribute, but we promise you that’s not true.
A better world is possible, but it takes all of us. Welcome to the labor movement!
In Solidarity,
Robin Trach, Steering Committeeperson for Game Workers of Southern California
