In a historic move, workers at New York-based video game studio Workinman Interactive are aiming to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
If they’re successful, Workinman’s staffers will form the first-ever union for dedicated video game workers under IATSE in the US. The studio’s management did not voluntarily recognize the union, prompting IATSE to file a petition for representation election (where workers vote to join the union) with the National Labor Relations Board.
Workinman has partnered with companies including Disney, Nickelodeon, Fisher-Price, Sesame Workshop, Mattel and Universal to make games such as Disney Junior Summer Arcade, SpongeBob’s Game Frenzy and Fisher Price: Smart Cycle. It has also built games for museum exhibits, such as Wild Kratts: Ocean Adventure, which is based on the popular 9 Story Media Group series.
Challenges facing the broader video game industry—namely, job insecurity, inadequate compensation and no collective representation—spurred the move to unionize, according to IATSE’s statement yesterday. Workinman’s staffers are aiming to improve workplace conditions and set a precedent for other studios.
IATSE has been trying to organize video game workers into unions over the last few years to meet a growing demand for representation in every sector of the entertainment industry.
Last year, workers at Vancouver’s Anemone Hug Interactive voted to join IATSE—making it the first full-service game development studio in Canada to do so, according to the organization. IATSE’s recent video game industry efforts have included launching a survey on compensation rates and working conditions in June, the results of which will be shared in the coming weeks. Last week, video game, animation and VFX workers at Puerto Rico’s Gladius Studio—which does animation and video game service work—voted to unionize with The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839.
But unifying video game workers is no easy feat as they can have vastly different jobs, as well as very different needs. “Game production is a cacophony of jobs and disciplines pitted against each other for smaller and smaller pieces of a big pie,” said Workinman project manager Matthew Vimislik in yesterday’s statement. “I believe IATSE’s experiences representing wide swathes of the entertainment industry gives us the best chance of navigating the various needs of our workers, and creating a sense of solidarity for artists, programmers, producers, and engineers.”
IATSE represents more than 168,000 workers in the entertainment industry, including on the production, broadcast, film and TV side of the business in both the US and Canada. It’s been a big year for the organization and unions in general, as production workers at Disney Animation Studios, VFX workers at Marvel Studios and staffers at Powerhouse Animation Studios have all voted to join a union in order to pursue better wages and workplace conditions.