Ministers to investigate Rockstar North 'union busting' allegations

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP, Chris Murray raised his concerns about the dismissal of 31 employees by Rockstar North during Prime Minister’s Questions.

At PMQs, Mr Murray said that Rockstar North had failed to reassure him that they were following the law and that he shares ‘concerns about union busting’.

He continued: “Given this government is responsible for the biggest increase in workers rights in a generation, does the PM agree all companies regardless of profit size must follow UK employment law and all workers have the right to join a union?”

Sir Keir Starmer said that the case was “deeply concerning” and that ministers would investigate.

The Prime Minister said: “It's a deeply concerning case. Every worker has the right to join a trade union and we're determined to strengthen workers rights and ensure they don't face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case the member raises and will keep him updated.”

Earlier this month, Mr Murray and fellow Edinburgh MPs Tracy Gilbert and Scott Arthur met with the Grand Theft Auto game developers to seek assurances that UK employment law was followed. However, Mr Murray said that the MPs were initially refused entry and asked to sign non disclosure agreements before the meeting would begin. Mr Murray said that this request was eventually withdrawn by Rockstar.

Mr Murray said: “The meeting only entrenched my concerns about the process Rockstar used to dismiss so many of their staff members. I was not assured their process paid robust attention to UK employment law, I was not convinced that this course of action was necessary, and alarmingly, I did not leave informed on exactly what these 31 people had done to warrant their immediate dismissal.”

A protest was held outside the Rockstar North building in Edinburgh | Callum McCormack

It is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the workers and the game development company that has rumbled on for more than a month.

In November, more than 200 staff at Rockstar North signed a letter urging senior management to reinstate the workers and condemning what they called ‘union busting’.

That followed protests at Rockstar North’s Edinburgh headquarters, with dozens of affected workers and their supporters taking to the street outside, and also at sites in Paris, London and New York.

The fired workers were all members of, or in the process of becoming members of, the IWGB union, which specialises in independent workers.

Fred Carter, an IWGB organiser, said: “By deciding to fire more than 30 union members, Rockstar have carried out an Amazon-style act of union-busting unprecedented in the games industry. This is a company that benefits from more than £440 million in UK tax relief, while displaying a callous and blatant disregard for both the livelihood of workers and the letter of the law.”

Rockstar have claimed in a public statement that the 31 members of staff were fired for leaking information in public channels. But the IWGB has refuted that claim, saying that workers only communicated in private and legally-protected trade union channels.