Employees at French video game giant Ubisoft have decided to organise a three-day strike in October in reaction to the company’s new back-to-office policy. The strike, called by the French trade union STJV, will take place on 15, 16 and 17 October and is a protest against the company’s new policy of requiring employees to work in the office three days a week.
Ubisoft employees react to the decision to return to the office
The STJV claims that Ubisoft management made this decision ‘without concrete justification and without consulting employee representatives’. ‘Many of our colleagues, who have been working productively in a remote working arrangement for over five years, have rebuilt their lives. They have made new arrangements for their family life, housing situation and parenthood. It is no longer possible for them to return to their old working conditions.’
The call for a strike is not limited to the return to office policy. The STJV also claims that Ubisoft is not honouring fair sharing agreements and that management is not listening to employee concerns.
The union is making three main demands of the company:
- A formal teleworking agreement that allows employees to freely choose when to come into the office.
- An immediate salary increase, closure of the gender pay gap and renewal of profit-sharing agreements.
- Management to initiate a constructive ‘social dialogue’ with employees.
- This strike will be the second work stoppage by Ubisoft employees in France in 2024. Hundreds of employees had previously walked off the job to protest against the company’s proposed raises.
One of the first titles that comes to mind when thinking of superhero games, the Batman: Arkham series has had its release date announced.
Employees in France have the constitutional right to strike and can exercise this right regardless of whether they are union members or not. According to the STJV, the participation of at least two paid employees is sufficient for a legal strike.
Ubisoft has studios in Annecy, Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier and Paris in France. In case of a strike, it is estimated that projects in these studios may be disrupted and the company may suffer a significant loss of production.
