The first-of-its-kind in the US as far as gaming, industry-wide union of Video Game Works titled the UVW-CWA has been formed in conjunction with the Communication Workers of America.
United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433
Announced at GDC a joint-union known as the UVW-CWA Local 9433 has been formed. It is in conjunction with the Communications Workers of America and released the following mission statement:
“Our mission is to take back our lives, our labor, and our passion from those who treat us like replaceable cogs; to empower our fellow workers; to link up arms with the laid off, with the freelancer, with the disillusioned contractor, with the disenfranchised and the marginalized, with the workers laboring invisibly to keep this industry afloat. We are going to create a game industry that works for us, one that nourishes its talent and invests in its future, rather than constantly seeking short-term profits. We are the ones that make the games, so we must be the ones that set the terms of how we work.”
The union has been formed after years of constant layoffs and closures as the video game industry has struggled to find growth. After 40+ years it has finally matured as a market, which has made finding investments into game development difficult.
Per the reporting of the excellent Rebekah Valentine on IGN: “UVW-CWA is a direct-join organization, meaning any video game industry worker in the U.S. or Canada working as an artist, writer, designer, QA tester, or programmer can join, regardless of whether they are freelance or fulltime or whether or not other workers at their company have joined.”
