More than 100 developers from Avalanche Studios Group have joined a union, and the studio has been working since the beginning of the year to negotiate new labor contracts at the company.
Avalanche Studios Group has games PCSteam Deck, Xbox, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch, but the current situation surrounding layoffs in the industry has forced them to join Syndicate.
More than 100 developers from Just Cause, Mad Max and the upcoming Contraband have joined Sweden’s Unionen, but are also negotiating their contract with Avalanche management.
IGN confirmed the news with a Avalanche Studios union representative, as well as one from Unionen and Avalanche PR. Of the nearly 500 employees, more than 100 are already Unionen members.
In early 2023, members created “club– district board of trade unions negotiate directly with Avalanche management certain preferences of the developer.
These meetings started a few weeks ago and are still going on, involving employees from another union, Sveriges Ingenjörer. As the mentioned media write, the union membership in Sweden works a little differently than many studio unions seen so far in the United States.
In this country, workers who meet the necessary requirements can join at any time, and there is no need to hold union elections at their workplaces; This is something that has long been established in the country.
Nearly 70% of the country’s population is unionized (according to Unionen), which is higher than unemployment, but the negotiations with Avalanche are unprecedented.
The following Avalanche Studios video games will be affected
Although a Unionen representative declined to disclose the issues in the employee negotiations, IGN understands that the possible interest for employees could be the move to a four-day work week, among other things.
If an agreement is reached, the contract will last for two years and new board elections will be held for further negotiations. Despite the fact that everything has just begun, the media say that everything looks very optimistic.
I Avalanche Studios union representative He said: “We (the board of the local trade union association) are very hopeful about the prospect of signing a collective agreement.
We believe this will be a great step in ensuring that the thoughts, ideas, feelings and opinions of Avalanche employees are given the representation they deserve. We look forward to working with the company’s management to improve it“.
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A spokesperson for Avalanche Studios also said before the above was reported: “As an employer, we strive to create the best possible environment for the success of all Avalanchers.
We support and welcome any initiative in this direction. It also means that we listen, invite dialogue and encourage people to express their perspectives and needs.
After all, it’s because of every Avalancher that we’re able to make the great games we’re known for.“At the moment, the studio is not affected and continues to work almost as usual.
Knowing that More than 100 workers at Avalanche Studios Group have unionized and are asking for a new contract We will continue to pay attention to what may come from there.
