The IWGB Game Workers union in the UK has published its manifesto that looks into its campaign and what it wants to achieve to ensure that the games industry in the country not only becomes more fair but also is more secure and more sustainable for employees in the future.
The manifesto explains that it's looking to build a better future for all workers in the games industry, and that this future includes having better job security, more impactful tools and knowledge, better ways to connect with others outside of work, voices that are heard, and more diverse, inclusive, and harassment and discrimination-free workplaces.
To achieve these aims, the manifesto lays out its five core values, which includes building a democracy where all union members have a vote and a part in making decisions. On top of this is developing a community that protects and supports each other, a proactive team that will push for and not wait for its demands to be met, broadly shared knowledge, and equality for all.
The campaigns that the IWGB Game Workers union will be running to achieve these feats will include having its members recognised by their employers first of all. Then the aim will be turned to tackling crunch culture and crazy working hours, with the manifesto stating that they are aiming for a "no overtime rule" and either a four-day working week or six-hour work days, alongside guaranteed mental health days. This will be matched with better compensation that will end the gender pay gap, have annual salary increases to match inflation, shared studio profits, improved pension schemes, equal parental leave, and improved baseline pay. They also want executives to be held accountable, salaries to be transparent, diversity statistics to be public, contracts to be more secure, redundancy packages to be improved, one-month notice periods to be a bare minimum, non-compete clauses and non-disparagement clauses to be removed, ownership of side-projects to be guaranteed, and inclusion in credits on projects an individual worked on to be guaranteed too.
With all of this in mind, the key message the union wants to communicate seems to be: "Together, we can build a games industry that works for everyone."
You can read the full manifesto here to see how IWGB Game Workers plans to build its vision of a better future.