Our recent discussion on unpaid overtime raised the potential need for developers to organize in order to protect their work-life balance. We followed-up by talking to BECTU representative, Mr. Willie Lesslie (WLesslie@bectu.org.uk). Based in the UK, it is one of the few unions actively representing the concerns of game developers. The transcript of the interview follows:
Q: What is BECTU? What does it do?
A: BECTU is the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union. It represents workers in the following industries, the list is not exhaustive - TV, Radio, Theatre, Cinema, Leisure, Film Production, Animation, Film Laboratories - our members are a mixture of employed and self-employed or freelance. Where we have collective agreements with employers we negotiate on pay and terms and conditions for our members. We also represent members at an individual level on disciplinary and grievance matters.
Q: How can BECTU help game developers?
A: At the present time and until we can establish a relatively high membership density among game developers, we can only represent these at the individual level. It should be noted though that individuals now have the legal right to be accompanied by a trade union official at disciplinary and grievance hearings irrespective of how anti-union the employer may be - individuals also have legal protection from being victimized as a result of enlisting trade union support. Another main benefit of BECTU membership is access to expert legal advice and support where this is appropriate.
Q: Can you tell us how many game developers your represent in the UK?
A: I can’t give you this information at the present time.
Q: BECTU (and other various unions available out there) don’t seem to be very well known in the games industry. What methods do you use to try and recruit new members?
A: It has unfortunately been the case since the wave of anti-union legislation introduced by the Thatcher government in the early 80s that trade unions have been rather marginalized. The result has been that a whole generation of young people entered the employment market with no knowledge of the existence of trade unions and what they do. This extends way beyond the games industry but is apparent in all of the new industries that have sprung up in the wake of rapid technological change. We have attempted, without much success, to explain what we do to people in the games industry and to get a feel for what the main issues are in the workplace and to discuss with people how these might be tackled. Along with our General Secretary I have attended a couple of forum meetings organized by games developers but we got the feeling that we were listened to politely and that people thought trade unions were not relevant in their industry.
Q: Do you have trouble recruiting game developers? I have noticed a general reticence to unionize amongst game developers, and more generally, by any IT force. The impression I get is that developers feel that by unionizing, they are losing their independence.
A: Yes there is this resistance but in my view it is erroneous to equate unionization with giving up independence. There is a serious argument over what this “independence” actually amounts to. At the end of the day, most games developers are employees and they sell their creative skills (otherwise known as their labor power) to employers. It remains an economic exchange and like all economic exchanges, a better deal can be reached by collective or group power than on an individual basis.
Q: Whenever unions are mentioned within the context of the games industry, developers immediately associate them to striking. They say, we don’t want to go on strike, and dismiss the idea of a union because of that. Obviously, striking is seen as a last resort, but how do you address this concern, or misconception?
A: Striking is always a last resort - people don’t go on strike for the fun of it. This misconception arises from the anti-union hysteria generated by the press and other mass media - these have never been supportive of working people trying to improve their living standards. Our union has very rarely been involved in strike action in the recent past but when we do get involved in any kind of industrial action, it is only ever on the basis of the democratic decisions made by the members involved. Trade unions do not just call members out on strike, indeed this has been expressly forbidden by law in the UK for over 25 years. There are all sorts of legal hoops to jump through before workers can take ANY form of industrial action. This always involves a secret postal ballot of all of the staff in any business proposing to take any kind of industrial action.
Q: Do you feel the Quality of Life issues still blighting the games industry will eventually be resolved? Is it just a matter of maturity, or is there something fundamentally broken about the games industry?
A: A difficult question to answer but it is clear that the games industry is still at a very early stage of its development. It is only a short while since games were being developed in spare bedrooms and attics! Now though there has been a rapid industrialization and this has brought its own problems. The feedback we get from games developers is that the main bugbear is long hours, particularly as deadlines loom, the Crunch. In other industries the main gripe is often about low pay but this does not seem to be an issue here. I think the games industry will settle into a more recognizable pattern in the near future.
Q: Is there a BECTU’s counterpart in North America? In Japan? In other countries in Europe?
A: BECTU has a good relationship with IATSE in the US and Canada and we regularly exchange information. In Europe there are similar unions in most advanced countries with a history and tradition of trade unionism. The Eastern European countries have much newer established unions and are relying heavily on support from Western European unions to establish themselves. We have a relationship with MEI, a Europe wide grouping of media theatre and entertainment unions and a similar worldwide organization called UNI.
We’d like to thank Mr. Lesslie for taking the time to answer our questions. If you have any questions you’d like to see answered in a follow-up, please post them here, and we will try to get them answered.
