A supermajority of game developers behind the popular digital game Magic: The Gathering Arena has announced their intent to form a union with CWA, also marking the first unionization effort at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast.
    • rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      142·
      4 days ago

      I know you’re just being cheeky, but union busting like this is extremely uncommon. Under current NLRB rules, it would quickly be ruled a ULP and would cause their union to be immediately recognized

        • rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
          81·
          4 days ago

          Yes. It will move slower because of funding and staffing cuts, but it will still pretty quick given the situation. Joy Silk was resurrected in a ruling in 2023, and has been the guiding principle of union elections since then

          • theparadox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            4 days ago

            The majority of his presidency he’s kept them with too few members to have a quorum and therefore unable to do much of anything.

            Last I’d heard, Trump was officially allowed to dismiss members of the NLRB at will. His administration is basically the definition of corruption and regulatory capture.

            Don’t get me wrong - I’d be happy to see things go well for unions but I have zero faith in anything good happening. Shit is so fucked I’m legitimately worried about any legal challenges to anything because we might get another Roe v. Wade.

            • rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
              3·
              4 days ago

              While that is a valid concern, most rulings don’t require a quorum. Most rulings are handled at the regional level. I’m intimately familiar with this situation, I have an ongoing ULP for discrimination

  • MysticKetchup@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    4 days ago

    As great news that this is, pretty fucked up that all of their very reasonable demands have to actually be negotiated for and aren’t just basic rights for workers

    • Kirp123@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      4 days ago

      That’s what you get when unions aren’t a major player in your country.

      In Denmark for example the government doesn’t even pass laws for stuff like minimum wage or working conditions. Everything is based on collective agreements between unions and employer associations. That’s how Denmark has pretty high minimum wage, 5 weeks guaranteed vacation per year, maternity leave, paid sick leave and other benefits. And these benefits can’t be taken away if some party that’s hostile to workers get elected.

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        2·
        4 days ago

        Out of curiosity, what’s stopping someone from starting a company that hires non-union labour for cheaper than the collective agreement? Or is it mandated by law that everyone must be part of a union?

        • Kirp123@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          3 days ago

          I mean people have tried it and there is no law that forces people to be in a union. But why would anyone go and work for a company that is paying them less?

          As for an example of what would happen just look at Tesla in Sweden(which uses a similar system)that has refused to sign a collective agreement and some of their employees have been striking against the company since 2023 which is still going and is the longest strike in Sweden in the last 80 years. After the strike started other unions started so called “sympathy strikes”. The Swedish Transport union joined the strike and refused to load or unload any Tesla cars at ports. The dockworker, electricians and postal worker unions also joined and refused to provide services to Tesla. This affected their deliveries, installation and maintenance of charging stations and so on. Eventually unions from other Nordic countries also joined such as Danish port workers from 3F union then Norwegian port workers from Fellesforbundet and finally Finnish ones from Finnish Transport worker Union. Pension Danmark, one of the largest pension funds in Denmark to divest entirely from Tesla. They now have to transport their cars by land since port workers refuse to unload them and they can’t even get license plates for their cars because of the postal union strike.

          • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            2·
            3 days ago

            I mean people have tried it and there is no law that forces people to be in a union. But why would anyone go and work for a company that is paying them less?

            Economic downturn where there are barely any jobs, except at companies that can hire people at lower rates? Rural area and you don’t want to move for a job, but the only companies around pay less?

            It’s why I prefer a nationally mandated minimum wage, just not US style where it’s been left the same for decades. Here in Estonia, it’s updated every year and is the product of negotiations between an organization that represents unions and another that represents employers. So kinda like in Denmark, I guess… Except the number they come up with is mandatory for everyone in the country, whether or not you’re in a union. Obviously a union will still have its own collective agreements and can demand higher wages, including by striking if necessary.