Court filings from the battle between GTA 6 studio Rockstar and fired workers have revealed how Rockstar accessed a Discord server set up by union organisers.
  • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1691·
    26 days ago

    Rockstar management did not have direct access to the server prior to October 2025, but the former workers and their legal team allege that “from at least February 2024, [Rockstar HR director] Charlie Kinloch had been receiving information from a junior employee on trade union activity inside the Server”. They claim that “over 21 months, at least 26 meetings or communications took place between Mr Kinloch and [the junior employee] concerning the Server, roughly half of them initiated by Mr Kinloch himself”. Related

    The “mole” is said to have “supplied screenshots and recordings, reported union meetings, training sessions and union membership numbers, and identified individual union activists”. On 7th October 2025, they allegedly informed Kinlock that the union were 12 members away from the statutory threshold for recognition - 10% of the workforce. The union eventually reached this milestone on 18th October, with Kinloch learning of this on 20th October, the fired workers claim. At some point in this period, they go on, Rockstar management got hold of logins for the server, with Rockstar’s vice president of information security Abid Ansari eventually signing in to download “the contents of the Announcements and General channels”. Rockstar began firing members of the Discord at the end of the month.

    Just classic union busting. Srsly. Don’t fucking give Rockstar money now of all times. Sales number is the only language they speak. If you support unions, at least fucking wait on GTA 6. Wait until workers get rehired, unions enancted, Rockstar stops breaking employment laws.

    If waiting too much of a bother, if you want the game too much, then go ahead and cross the picket line. Know it’s full of fired workers with families to support, some losing their homes, some losing the country as work visas getting revoked/being deported, all becoming unhirable in the industry since their last reference is claiming misconduct. But if none of that is a problem, then go ahead and be a scab.