#unionization

#unionization

On December 22, Ubisoft Halifax announced that 61 of its workers had joined the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada. At the time, the studio's lead programmer, Jon Huffman, told CTV News that 73.8 percent of employees voted in favor of unionizing. Ominously in hindsight, he had described the decision as a "huge relief." The studio was working on mobile titles within the Rainbow Six and Assassin's Creed franchises.

Recent developments suggest that the labor movement is starting to take a more active and adversarial approach toward AI in the workplace, This was hardly an isolated incident amid the breakneck integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the workplace. Ominous signs abound, from the news editor at a nonprofit news site who used AI to edit stories and then fired a reporter for raising objections, to Salesforce's cutting 4,000 customer support jobs and shifting to AI agents.

TriMet has promoted the Safety Response Team (SRT) program as a model of a public safety program that doesn't rely on armed police and security guards. The program sends unarmed workers onto Portland's public transit system, expecting them to help de-escalate tense situations and increase an overall perception of safety on MAX trains and buses. Many of Segler's colleagues have expressed similar sentiments about their jobs.

Heine Bros Coffee has promoted longtime finance and operations leader Jessica Lord to chief executive officer, marking a generational leadership shift at the Louisville-based specialty coffee chain. Lord joined the company in 2010, serving as director of finance before taking on the COO role in 2022. As CEO, she replaces Mike Mays, who will remain with the company in a founder role.

For this data cycle, MMF expanded the reach of the survey as well as the questions. When looking at workplace culture, for example, respondents were asked about the impact of their job on their health. Altogether, 3,100 staff members representing 91 institutions answered the survey, up from the 1,933 staff members at just over 50 museums who took part in the previous report in 2023.

The employees worry that any jobs lost as a result of the purchase would "be a choice, not a necessity, made to pad investors' pockets."

Bad news, baby. The New Yorker reports the rapid advance of AI in the workplace will create a permanent underclass of everyone not already hitched to the AI train. The prediction comes from OpenAI employee Leopold Aschenbrenner, who claims AI will reach or exceed human capacity by 2027. Once it develops capacity to innovate, AI superintelligence will supersede even a need for its own programmers and then wipe out the jobs done by everyone else.

Developers at independent studio ZA/UM, the team behind the critically acclaimed RPG Disco Elysium, have formed a union that was recognized by the United Kingdom's games industry, marking a first in the country. In an October 2 blog post on the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Game Workers website, chairperson Spring McParlin-Jones and organizing officer Eugenia Peruzzo expressed excitement about this development. It's a big deal, after all, particularly because ZA/UM's recognized union could provide hope for other developers in the UK looking to gain collective power.

The union campaign began in March when Gulino contacted organizers with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, which represents Disney theme park retail workers. An Anaheim Resort district minimum wage law also served as a catalyst. After a lengthy court battle, the Walt Disney Co. began complying with the law two years ago and agreed to a $233-million settlement in the class-action case that an Orange County judge recently approved. The measure covers not only theme park workers, but also Downtown Disney retailers.

A self-described "MAGA former dancer" is now leading the Kennedy Center's dance programming, and he's inherited a series decimated by local boycotts, according to ticket sales data reviewed by Washingtonian . Stephen Nakagawa, who until earlier this year was a company member at the Washington Ballet, replaces Jane Rabinowitz Raleigh, a veteran local arts administrator who was fired August 21 by Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell.

Newsom called it an "historic agreement between workers and business that only California could deliver."

More than 450 game developers on Blizzard's team have formed a union, making them one of the largest and latest groups of Microsoft workers to do so. The new union includes game developers, artists, designers, engineers, and support staff across the Diablo franchise, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) press release, which voted "strongly in favor" to be represented by the CWA. The Diablo team is seeking to improve compensation, job security, and workplace conditions under its Microsoft parent company.

"As the organization grows, we are unionizing across newsrooms and teams to ensure our mission and vision align with employees' realities," the Signal Ohio News Workers Guild wrote in a statement signed by 15 union-eligible staffers. The journalists said their priorities for unionization include "transparent, equitable and sustainable pay," including cost-of-living raises; hiring practices that reflect Signal's "founding ethos of being accountable to our communities"; professional development; and a say in newsroom policies, including the use of artificial intelligence.

Employees at the Brighton Soldiers Field location voted unanimously 9-0 Wednesday to join Starbucks Workers United, aiming for workplace protections, living wages, and fair scheduling.