this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024

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French union CGT Ubisoft calls for a strike, translation of an AMA on the main french subreddit (jlai.lu)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by inlandempire@jlai.lu to c/games@sh.itjust.works

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Hope this kind of content is allowed in this commnity !

For context: CGT is the main union in France, this is an AMA run by union members of the CGT Ubisoft branch, but there are also other unions calling for a strike (STJV, Solidaires Informatique, CFE-CGC Fieci, CGT, Printemps Ecologiques)

Hello everyone,

We are members of the CGT Ubisoft, and today, we are available to answer your questions until the end of the day.

We are here to discuss everything related to our union experience at Ubisoft, working conditions in the video game industry, and the reasons that led us to call for a strike on October 15.

Do not hesitate to ask your questions, whether it is about the role of the union, the current situation at Ubisoft, or our recent actions. We are here to discuss and provide transparent answers.

We will try to answer most of your questions. However, we may not be able to answer those considered confidential

You can also find us on Instagram to follow our news: https://www.instagram.com/cgtubisoft/

I will translate questions / answers in a comment chain below

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[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hello CGT. Is there any difficulty in approaching the topic of unionization with executives in your company?

Not so difficult, employees are very open on the issue. Even more so when it comes to defending their rights. Working conditions can sometimes be very difficult for some. We have a large population to represent, the jobs are very diverse at Ubisoft.

But overall we are very well perceived by employees. There are more and more unionized employees.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hello, we often talk about "union in video games" without comparing them to "union in software publishers" for example, is there a reason to separate video games unions from "classic" IT unions? (knowing that there are also very few unions overall in the IT industry)

Indeed, this is one of the particularities of the CGT, we are an interprofessional union, we unionize all employees, whatever their category or job or sector of activity. We work in favor of workers whatever their field.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

On some subreddits, I've seen people say that this strike movement risks pushing Ubisoft into bankruptcy and therefore unemployment for its employees.

I imagine that this kind of remark has already been made to you and so what do you respond to this kind of sophisms and false dilemmas?

And strength to you and all employees in the face of these absurd management decisions.

This movement really does not have the capacity to push Ubisoft into bankruptcy. This is not a realistic statement. On the contrary, this strike movement demonstrates the commitment and attachment of employees to their company and work community.

Thank you for your encouragement, it will be passed on!

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Are you going to cook the merguez on CPUs?

We're thinking about it, we'll ask our data center engineers for advice

[Note: cooking merguez is a staple of strikes in France, it's a meme, but it's very grounded in reality, you'll have merguez stands available for lunch at every protest]

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Could you share information on to the impact that the Libération [french newspaper] investigation had a few years ago on the accusations of harassment, including sexual harassment, and more generally of a Boys Club atmosphere within Ubisoft?

I remember that at the time there was a certain frustration about the management's not very ambitious response, but did it have an impact over time?

Ubisoft culture has evolved a lot since the Libération investigation. What is new within Ubisoft is the union fact, which gives employees a voice and takes concrete action to defend their rights.

The employer has the obligation to protect the health and safety of its employees. To this end, it implements preventive measures, particularly on psychosocial risks.

We work daily to ensure that an effective prevention policy is put in place and ensures a healthy and fulfilling work environment.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Since this is the topic of the day, the cases of walkouts and collective action that I have in mind often involve physical meetings/actions. This makes it easier to mobilize the troops and create a body effect. [I don't know how to translate "effet de corps", what they mean is that the union will show as one block, instead of seeming separated]

Consequently, how do you manage, from a union point of view, the mobilization of physically separated employees?

This is indeed a real difficulty, especially since the company refuses us the right to communicate by email to employees. We therefore use all the other means at our disposal to reach employees.

As for the terms of the strike on the same day, we invite employees to join us at the headquarters for those who can. The others will simply stop working.

This is a very good question, and it would be interesting to offer them an innovative mode of action. We will see if it is possible to stream the gathering planned at the headquarters. We are open to proposals.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

OP, what is the internal morale of the teams (I'm talking about the field, obviously not the LinkedIn bullshit distilled by management)?

Employees are very attached to their company. Their morale is starting to be attacked with the drop in living standards and the questioning of teleworking.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Even if your goal is to protect employees and their jobs, don't you think that there are too many people in some sectors of IT today? With covid and the world having switched to teleworking for 2 years, the number of jobs in tech has exploded, and companies have recruited en masse. Except that today demand is collapsing, and is facing a void, since the strong demand at the time of covid has now been satisfied. Meanwhile, shareholders are still on their cloud of illusions of permanent and infinite growth and are always asking for more.

In short, we know very well who is at fault in this mess, but don't you think that a reduction in certain jobs in tech is necessary?

We are indeed very attached to job protection. During the COVID period, profits exploded and this is particularly true for video games, investors expected to have the same level of growth. This period has ended, and some of the investments from this period have not been absorbed by the market. This is part of the vagaries of investments. The video game market is still growing despite everything and is actually doing quite well.

We don't see why we should get rid of tech employees.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Isn't the return to on-site work just a disguised layoff plan, which would fit in with the wave of massive layoffs that the sector has been experiencing for some time? A little off topic: There are rumors of a buyout by Tencent (or at least a significant increase in their stake in Ubi's capital), how do you feel about it internally?

Decisions concerning the structuring of shareholding at Ubisoft are completely beyond the control of employees. We have no information on this subject.

How are the rumors of a buyout by Tencent perceived internally? Is the atmosphere the same as during the rumors of Vivendi's purchases a few years ago?

Given the recent critical success of the latest Prince of Persia (I don't know if the game was profitable though), isn't this a sign for Ubisoft's management to trust its internal talents more to make more original games rather than wanting to jump on any trend (nft, service games, etc.) even if it means alienating certain developers and consumers?

Employees follow the media on the buyout rumors, which worries them. Employees and ourselves are attached to the collective work of Ubisoft, which is a flagship of the French video game industry. We work to defend employment and our working conditions.

What is new within Ubisoft is the union fact, which gives employees a voice and concrete action to defend their rights.

[–] inlandempire@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago

Is there a way/effort to enlist colleagues from other countries? Or does the legal framework elsewhere make such action too risky?

We represent French employees. But there are efforts being made in other countries to unionize. However, this is not our responsibility and we prefer not to go into this subject.

What was your position on the death of The Crew 1 video game, and the vague statements of the guy who said "players are going to have to get used to not owning their games anymore"? Were there any attempts to prevent the servers from being disconnected (which eventually happened)? In any case, it caused such a stir that Ivory Tower recently said they were going to implement an offline mode for The Crew 2 and Motorfest.

We, who are also gamers, see, like you, that the pressure from the financial markets leads to decisions that do not serve the interests of players.