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Game Developers Unionize?

Posted by Zonk on from the power-to-the-pixel-pushers dept.

Gamasutra.com has a look at the reasons, both pro and con, for unionization of the folks behind the entertainment software industry. From the article: "Many industry observers see close parallels between the gripes of today's game developers and those of workers in the movie industry in the 1930s and '40s, particularly in the animation segment. The difference is that Hollywood unionized, and the game industry is still only talking about it."

2 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Outsourcing. by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The difference is outsourcing. The game industry can pretty much outsource everyone. Hollywood can't: if they outsourced everything, it would become Bollywood, and there is already a Bollywood.

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    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  2. Unions go against job security by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "Unions provide job security since they counteract the..."

    In real practice, however, unions reduce job security. When the company has to pay everyone more, they have to get rid of workers to make up for it (the money has to come from somewhere), and the company's workforce undergoes reduction.

    A good example of this is the famous Teamster's strike at UPS just a few years ago. The Teamsters won their wage demands, and the size of the UPS workforce was reduced in order to pay it.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.