French Ubisoft employees urged to strike over new return to office policy: 'The consequence of its decision will be the loss of our colleagues' jobs'

Gaming IndustryFrench Ubisoft employees urged to strike over new return to office policy: ‘The consequence of its decision will be the loss of our colleagues’ jobs’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Pascal GUYOT / AFP via Getty Images)

This photograph taken on February 13, 2024, shows the main entrance of Ubisoft video firm company where a strike call is planned on February 14, 2024, in Montpellier, south of France.

The SJTV (Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo), a French videogame workers union, has called allUbisoftemployees in France to join in a three-day strike in October, to protest changes in the publisher’s global remote work policy. Earlier this week, Ubisoft informed its employees that all workers—in every office, worldwide—would now be expected to return to office work at least three days a week (viaGamesIndustry.biz).

“This announcement was made without any tangible justification or any consultation with the workers' representatives,” the SJTV said inits call to strike. “After more than five years of working efficiently in the current remote-work context, many of our colleagues have built or rebuilt their lives (family life, housing, parenthood, etc.) and simply cannot return to the previous working conditions. Our employer knows this perfectly well. The consequence of its decision will be the loss of our colleagues' jobs, the disorganization of many game projects, and the drastic increase in psychosocial risks for those who remain.”

According to the SJTV, Ubisoft’s change in remote work policy immediately followed the collapse of negotiations over an employee profit sharing agreement. “Management’s proposals were unacceptable, the negotiations' timetable was appalling, and management was deaf to the proposals of the various Employee representatives,” the SJTV said.

The SJTV’s strike demands include a formal agreement on remote work policy, salary increases, restoration of profit-sharing, and a commitment to respectable dialogue between management and employee representatives.

French labor laws, which require annual negotiations between employers and union representatives, offer substantial protections for striking workers. Thanks to rights enshrined in the French constitution, it’s illegal for French employers to retaliate against any “collective and concerted cessation of work in view of supporting professional demands” in which two or more workers participate.

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