Fired Rockstar workers 'should be supported by the council'

Edinburgh game workers who say they were fired for taking part in trade union organising should be supported by the council, according to a city councillor.

Late last month, 31 staff at the Edinburgh branch of games company Rockstar were terminated.

The firm says they were terminated for ‘distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum’, and that the firings were not related to trade union organising.

A union representing the workers involved say it was due to their organising efforts.

Green councillor Dan Heap has put forward a motion to next week’s fair work committee meeting asking the council to support staff.

He wants to see council staff provide the workers with information on their welfare rights, and apply for relevant financial support that could be available to them.

Additionally, his motion asks the council leader to write to the firm expressing concerns about the staff being removed for their roles, and calling on them to be reinstated.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, the union representing some staff at the Edinburgh site, launched legal action over the dismissal earlier this month.

Staff who were removed have said they believe their firings were related to a server on messaging platform Discord, where they say trade union organising took place.

They say the server was invite-only, and was an environment that should be protected under trade union law.

According to reporting published on Monday by trade publication People Make Games, discussion of company policy on the server may have influenced the firm’s decision.

The firm, including staff at the Edinburgh office, are currently working on the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, which is set for release next November.

Take Two Interactive, the owner of Rockstar, was contacted for comment.