SAG-AFTRA is Coming for Video Game Companies, the Right to Sit in California, and What to Say When Your Employee Resigns
Unions in Action, Resting on the Job, and Being a Good Manager
The Latest in Employment News
Unions & strike authorizations are on the rise
Growing up I rarely thought about unions. Aside from a few famous movies, like Norma Rae, the general idea I picked up from my suburban, moderately conservative household was that unions didn’t contribute much to the betterment of the economy.
By the time I was in my 20s, I was more aware of unions but I assumed that they didn’t apply to me. I thought, naively, that if I worked hard my employers would value my contributions and make logical concessions to retain good employees. I believed the big bosses would care about me as a person.
Today, in my late 30s, I’ve seen lots of people get screwed over by employers. I understand now why unions exist and how they serve their members. Workplaces can be rife with bullying, harassment, broken promises about raises and bonuses, and even safety violations. HR is not your friend and bringing up any concerns about your work environment can result in termination. Unions can help here.
I’m excited to see that unionizing and strikes are becoming more mainstream. Are all unions perfect? No, there are unions who bully other parties and even bend or break the laws for their members. A prime example: the police union. That’s why I believe that if authority figures can have the protection of a union, so should the rest of us. Otherwise, we have no recourse.
Video game performers are voting on whether to strike this month
Film and television writers and actors, two separate unions, are still on strike. The writers' strike has been in effect for over 4 months; the actors’ strike for over 1.5 months. So far, they’ve received lackluster offers from AMPTP, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. This month, voice and performance actors may join the picket line.
SAG-AFTRA has a separate contract with video game companies that covers voice and performance capture artists. These are the people who bring video game characters to life. Just like with film and TV negotiations, video games are resisting updated contracts. SAG-AFTRA has opened up member voting about whether to authorize a strike against 10 video game companies that are covered by the existing contract.
Here are the union’s demands that must be met by video game companies in order to avoid a strike:
AI regulation: Just like with TV and film, voice actors and performers (like stunt people who act out the movements of video game characters) are worried that companies will use AI and their recorded likenesses in perpetuity, without having to pay them another cent for their work.
Wage increase: Increases would match those for film and TV actors. This includes an 11% retroactive raise and 4% increases in both the second and third years of a new contract.
On-set medics: Did you know that on-set medics aren’t always available for on-camera performance work in video games? Considering that stunt work is an important part of the video game experience, this is mind blowing to me.
Rest breaks: Video game voice and performance actors are asking for 5 minute breaks every hour for on-camera performers, something film and tv actors already have in their contracts.
Voting on whether to authorize a strike will end on September 25th. If you were wondering, the existing writers’ and actors’ strikes are making an impact on studios already. Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, CNN, TNT, and many other brands, is cutting its profit expectations for 2023, saying that it will incur $500M in costs because of the strikes.
Potential strikes on the way, plus some wins
The United Auto Workers union has voted that union leaders can authorize a strike against Stellantis (brands include Chrystler, Maserati, and Dodge), General Motors, and Ford. A strike could be possible if current contract negotiations fail. UAW is asking for a 40% increase in pay, restoration of pensions for new hires, and the elimination of wage tiers.
American Airlines flight attendants have also voted to authorize a strike because they haven’t received raises since 2019. They’re asking to raise pay more than 40% over a 4 year period. It’s actually illegal for airline unions to conduct strikes because of the Railway Labor Act. Congress or the President can, and have, stepped in to block strikes before. A strike probably won’t happen, but the pressure on airline companies is very real.
Earlier this year, employees at SEGA of America successfully unionized. Their union is the first multi-departmental video game union in the United States. The quality assurance testers at Microsoft’s ZeniMax Studios also unionized back in January of this year.
The University of Michigan tried to stop their Graduate Employees Organization from striking by saying that it violated Michigan law. When the university requested an injunction that would order strikers back to work, the court denied their request. Workers were able to secure a new 3 year contract which they ratified by 97% vote.
Food for Thought
In California, you have the right to sit down at work
It’s common in the United States for employers to require that their employees stand while at work. You see this mostly in banking, retail, food service, and hospitality. A popular phrase amongst managers and supervisors is, “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” Resting is shunned, even when business is slow.
Many employers, and Americans too, believe that if an employee is sitting or resting while at work, it looks unprofessional and lazy to shoppers. As someone who has spent most of her career sitting at a desk in an office, it seems wild to me to judge productivity based on whether someone is standing or sitting while doing their job.
Allowing people to rest in their downtime at work is critical. In fact, it’s detrimental to your health to stand in one place for hours. Stationary standing causes sore feet, leg swelling, varicose veins, muscle fatigue, back pain, shoulder and neck stiffness, and problems for your spine, hips, and knees.
I’m not the only one that thinks forced standing at work is unreasonable. The California Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that it’s illegal to require employees to stand unnecessarily at their jobs. The ruling was summed up by Justice Carol A. Corrigan:
“There is no principled reason for denying an employee a seat when he spends a substantial part of his workday at a single location performing tasks that could reasonably be done while seated, merely because his job duties include other tasks that must be done standing.”
In this court case, CVS and Chase Bank were among the employers who argued that the court should let employers use their “business judgment” to decide whether to provide seats or not. As history has shown us, we really can’t trust the business judgment of corporations (climate change anyone?). The court rejected this argument, saying that employers can’t use their preference for standing as business judgment.
Want to hear something crazy? The right to sit at work was actually a legal right in almost every state over a century ago, but… it only applied to women workers. Some states haven’t changed this stipulation at all in modern times. New York, West Virginia, and New Mexico still only offer the right to sit to women. A few states have expanded the law to cover all genders, like California, while still others have repealed the right to sit entirely.
There is no good reason to ban sitting while at work (for any gender), especially for people that are assigned to a single workstation, like cashiers and bank tellers. The idea that customers care that an employee is sitting down while working is a made up tale by employers. It has no place in determining labor laws.
The Lighter side of Working
A good manager can handle their employee leaving
The unexpected has happened. Your best employee has scheduled a one-on-one meeting and tendered their resignation. They found another job that pays more, lets them work on projects they’re excited about, or allows work from home. Things your company won’t ever give this employee.
Some managers may react with anger and frustration. This employee has left you in the lurch. Now how will all of the work get done with one less person? Either you have to do it yourself or add tasks to other team members’ workloads. AND you have to hire a replacement. If you’re this manager, you might be the reason for the phrase, “people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers.”
A good manager will get past this mindset quickly. A friend of mine recently hired 2 more people for her team. She was looking forward to reducing the workload for herself and her existing employees. Then one of her employees informed her that he was given a job offer that he just had to take.
Her response? She told him she was sorry to see him leave and gave him advice on how to negotiate a better contract with the new employer. She knew that their industry is small and they’ll likely cross paths again. But more importantly, she cares about his ultimate success and wellbeing.
As a manager, the way you respond to an employee resigning says a lot about your maturity, leadership skills, and integrity. If you can’t provide a compelling counteroffer, take the high road. Congratulate them, thank them for everything they’ve done, and keep in touch. Perhaps one day a job will open up at their new company that’s the perfect fit for you. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help you get an interview.