On April 25, 2018, IGDA Chicago facilitated a roundtable discussion on the topic of unionization in our local game development industry, with the goal of sharing key points and perspectives from the community. Roughly 35-40 attendees with a variety of backgrounds and experience levels participated in this open forum. The three discussion questions presented and attendee responses are noted below.
Based on your experiences in the Chicago game industry, what are the primary issues that need to be solved?
Crunch
Exploitation of Recent Grads and Contract Workers
very low wages or unpaid internships
Lack of Severance Assistance
assistance post-layoff via compensation (including unused PTO and extended healthcare benefits,) placement services, referrals, resume services
Exploitative Labor Practices
offering a lower wage or position upon layoff, or otherwise attempting to skirt labor laws
wage theft, including delayed or unreceived payments
Non-competes and inability to work on personal work/projects or game jams outside of work
Hiring practices
including diversity at studios, promotional ability within the company, mobility within the company
HR that does not actually protect employees
Respect for non-production team roles (community, quality assurance, etc.)
Proper credit on titles
What are the potential benefits of unionization in the Chicago game industry?
For small studios (20-25)? Large studios (100+)? Freelancers?
Attendees from IATSE Local 476 shared that film unions have scale levels for different project sizes and budgets, and offer multiple layers of protection.
Benefits to Employees of Small Studios, Large Studios, and Freelancers
Standardization of wages
knowing how much your time is worth
some attendees were discouraged from sharing wage info among peers
Knowing your rights
Having advocates
Potential layoff unemployment funds
Game credit tracking
Retirement funds
Benefits to Employees of Mid and Large Studios
Unions could negotiate the percentage of outsourced work
Benefits to Small Studio Leadership
Giving more structure to startups
Knowing how much the work costs for the purpose of budget planning and publisher approval
Benefits to Freelancers
Individual freelancers could be protected by the bylaws of unions, including health insurance options
More predictable project cycles
What are the potential challenges of unionization in the Chicago game industry?
For small studios (20-25)? Large studios (100+)? Freelancers?
The perspective was shared that union leadership and term limits are important to ensuring unions are effective.
Challenges for Employees of Small Studios, Large Studios, and Freelancers
Ensuring companies are educated on proper processes when considering unionization or working with unions
Ensuring workers are educated on their rights when considering unionization
The presence of unions could discourage businesses from considering Chicago
Potentially a larger barrier for entry for those breaking into the field
Potential for retaliation
Challenges for Employees of Large Studios
Companies may choose not to work with people who are associating with unions or talking about them
Companies may send work elsewhere
Challenges for Small Studio Leadership
May be concerned about starting up in Chicago
Challenges for Freelancers
Concerns about adopting discipline-specific unions in game development
flexibility to accept work from different discipline categories without joining multiple unions
flexability to accept work that is not specifically in games, such as opportunities in film and related media
adopting the local union model when many opportunities may involve remote work across multiple states or countries
IGDA Chicago would like to thank all of the attendees who offered their perspectives on the topics presented. It is our goal to facilitate the sharing of information that supports the future of our local game development industry.