French gaming workers union STJV (Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo) is holding a strike today across three Ubisoft studios.
Workers have been called to join the picket line at Ubisoft's Annecy and Montpellier studios from 9 a.m., and at the Paris studio from 2 p.m. Union said.
The STJV had called the strike earlier this monthAfter the failure of annual salary negotiations at Ubisoft.
The union said in its statement: “Despite the union’s efforts to find an acceptable compromise, the negotiations reached a dead end.” “In order to meet the goals of arbitrary cost reductions, the administration has offered a budget for increases that will be below inflation for the second year in a row.”
The association also pointed to Ubisoft's FY24 financial report, during which CEO Yves Guillemot said results were “well above expectations.” In the company's latest report, looking at the nine months to December 2023, Guillemot spoke of “positive momentum” with revenues down 4.1% year-on-year and net bookings up 1.6%.
Union representatives working at Ubisoft spoke to the French publication GameCult Shedding more light on the strike, a Ubisoft Paris worker explained: “The strategy chosen by the management aims to save 200 million euros over the next two years in production costs. We are opposed to this strategy.
“When you're a game development studio, the right way to make money is to create video games in the best possible conditions so they're of the right quality. That's not done by laying off the workers who build them, or by saving money. “The tools they use, you'll make money on.” Capitalist context. Workers want to be proud of what they ship. In general, it is not through struggling to pay the rent or working in poor conditions that you can function properly. “
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