After the massive and successful mobilisations on September 10 and 18, the government and employers remain unable to address workers’ demands.
At the national level, the new prime minister met with trade unions but did nothing but stir up empty rhetoric, failing to respond to the needs of those who drive the economy and actually produce economic value, or of those — often the same people — who need national solidarity to survive and live decently.
In the video game industry, our antisocial bosses continue to bury their heads in the sand, hoping that by loudly ignoring the industry’s problems and their own incompetence, they will magically be able to continue making video games without changing anything. Meanwhile, workers are being squeezed harder and harder, as their jobs disappear and their living conditions deteriorate.
We demand social justice and decent living conditions for everyone, and as such, the STJV is joining the interunion coalition in calling on all video game workers to strike and mobilise on October 2. We want:
- The abandonment of the entire budget plan inherited from Bayrou
- The redistribution of wealth through higher taxation of the rich (in particular a floor tax on wealth) and an active fight against the financialisation of the economy
- Real oversight of public aid to private companies and the conditioning of such aid on social and environmental targets
- A significant increase in the budgets allocated to public services, especially healthcare
- The legal retirement age to be set at 60
- Significant penalties for companies that break the law, and individual accountability for their executives
- Concrete measures to limit layoffs, which have become nothing more than budgetary measures to protect the lifestyle of employers
- Open borders, the regularisation of undocumented migrants and the admission of all refugees from war zones or dictatorships
- Active measures, including economic sanctions against the Israeli state, to end the genocide in Gaza
These days of strike action are important for national mobilisation, but on their own, these one-off days will not solve the problems that workers face on a daily basis. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this new day of mobilisation to discuss issues among workers, between companies and between organisations, in order to link the national struggle with the fight in our workplaces and our daily lives. Let’s meet at our workplaces, at demonstrations, in cafés, in bars, online… wherever we have the opportunity to discuss and reflect together on our needs and our future.
This call covers the STJV’s field of action in the private sector, and therefore applies to any person employed by a video game publishing, distribution, services and/or creation company – whatever their position or status and whatever their company’s area of activity (games, consoles, mobile, serious games, VR/AR, game engines, marketing services, streaming, derivative products, esports, online content creation, etc.) – as well as to all teachers working in private schools in video game-related courses. As this is a national strike call, no action is necessary to go on strike: just don’t go to work.
We make, we produce: we decide!