UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called the recent firing of 31 Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) staff from the games giant Rockstar "deeply concerning" and promised that the incident will be investigated.
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP Chris Murray raised the issue in the UK's Parliament yesterday, December 10. The layoffs happened at the end of October, IGN India reported.
What did Chris Murray say?
Murray is the parliamentarian under whose constituency Rockstar North's HQ falls. He addressed Prime Minister Starmer, "The video games company Rockstar in my constituency last month fired 31 employees without providing evidence or union representation." He added, "The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain] IWGB alleges union busting. Having met Rockstar they failed to reassure me they are following employment law, and I share concerns about union busting."
What was PM Starmer's reply?
UK PM Kier Starmer acknowledged the issue, calling it "a deeply concerning case." He added, "Every worker has the right to join a trade union, and we're determined to strengthen workers' rights and ensure they don't face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case that he [Murray] raises and will keep him updated."
Rockstar's parent company Take-Two has justified the firings on the grounds of "gross misconduct" and said that the fired employees have been discussing and sharing confidential information in public.
Are the allegations true?
Bloomberg reported that the affected workers were UK and Canadian employees who had been part of a private Discord server where union-related discussions were taking place.
According to a People Make Games report, members of that Discord group had also circulated and talked about a particular message from Rockstar management outlining new Slack policies aimed at reducing off-topic discussions.
