Rockstar Union Dispute Heats Up | Edinburgh News

0:00It's September 11th. Welcome to Edinburgh News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. 34 former employees of Rockstar North, the studio behind Grand Theft Auto, are claiming unfair dismissal. They believe they were let go because of their trade union activities, and 23 of them are now taking part in an employment tribunal. One former worker testified that a list of employees who signed the union petition might have been used as a watchlist for further monitoring. The company, however, argues that these employees were dismissed for gross misconduct, specifically for sharing confidential information on a private, discord server. They plan to fight these claims vigorously. The tribunal heard that discussions on this server, intended for around 300 employees, could sometimes become quite heated, with comments, ranging from calling managers, toxic, to more offensive language. The former employee who testified, admitted that while moderators tried to keep things professional,

1:01the chat could indeed get a bit out of hand. He also suggested that if he had to make moderation decisions again, he might approach them differently, indicating a struggle to balance free. Expression with company policy. Rockstar's legal team pointed out that many employees who signed the petition were not dismissed, questioning the link between the petition and the subsequent firings. They also highlighted instances of severe misconduct on the discord server, like using derogatory slurs against named individuals, which they consider. Gross misconduct. This situation is ongoing, with the tribunal continuing its proceedings. The core of the dispute lies in whether the dismissals were due to union organizing or breaches of company policy regarding confidential information, and workplace conduct.