Union files formal legal claims against Rockstar amid union-busting accusations

After accusing Rockstar of union busting after the studio reportedly dismissed 30 to 40 employees last Thursday (October 30), The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has issued claims against the developer for unfairly dismissing staff.

Though Rockstar claimed the workers were fired for leaking “confidential information,” and the dismissals were not related to union activities, the union led protests outside the offices of Rockstar North and Take-Two Interactive in London and Edinburgh.

Now, claiming Rockstar has “declined” to meet with the union, IWGB believes “these dismissals amount to victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity.”

“We are representing employees who were dismissed by Rockstar Games in circumstances that we believe amount to victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity,” the union’s legal team said in a statement.

“Despite our representation and attempts to meet with Rockstar to resolve the matter through negotiation, Rockstar have declined and persisted to terminate members of the union in a manner that is unacceptable and unlawful. Accordingly, we have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the Claimants.

“Our members allege that Rockstar’s conduct constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting.”

Alex Marshall, IWGB president, added: “We are confident that what we’ve seen here is plain and simple union busting, and we will mount a full legal defence with our expert group of caseworkers, legal officers and barristers. Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company’s contractual clauses do not supersede UK law.

“This case stands as a warning to any employer in the games industry and beyond who thinks they are able to act with impunity against organised workers – we will not be intimidated.”