A French union, the Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (Video Game Workers’ Union; we’ll just use the French acronym: SJTV), is preparing to announce that a strike could take place at the publisher in October over restrictions on remote work and a dispute over pay raises.

Ubisoft recently told its employees that they would have to work at least three days a week in the offices, limiting remote work. According to SJTV, the decision was made without any concrete justification or consultation with employee representatives, and the company, headed by Yves Guillemot, was contacted by Gamesindustry, but no statement was made by Ubisoft.

“After more than five years of efficient work in the current remote working context, many of our colleagues have built or rebuilt their lives (family life, housing, parenthood, etc.) and simply cannot return to the previous working conditions. Our employer knows this very well. The consequences of its decision will be the loss of our colleagues’ jobs, the disorganization of many game projects, and a drastic increase in psychosocial risks for those who remain,” the STJV wrote in its call to strike.

The union added that this return to work follows failed negotiations over profit-sharing, in which the union found management’s proposals unacceptable while management was “deaf to the proposals of the various workers’ representatives,” so a similar dispute over wage negotiations appears to have arisen. As a result, the STJV is calling for a strike by all Ubisoft employees in France from October 15 to 17.

The SJTV demands that Ubisoft implement a formal agreement on remote work based on negotiations between management and the STJV, as well as an immediate increase in all salaries to “compensate for the decline in living standards in recent years”.

So not only is the situation around the French publisher not very bright (Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed), but this could be a thorn in Ubisoft’s side.

Source: Gamesindustry