‘GTA’ maker Rockstar accused of union busting after firing staff, Bloomberg says

Take-Two’s (TTWO) Rockstar Games, which develops the “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption” franchisess, fired dozens of workers in a move that British trade union claim was meant to prevent staff from unionizing, though the company claims they were let go for misconduct, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports. The developer terminaed between 30 and 40 employees across multiple offices in the U.K. and Canada on Thursday, the author says, citing a spokesperson for the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. All of the staffers were part of a private trade union chat group on Discord and were either members of the union or trying to organize at the “GTA” maker, the spokesperson told Bloomberg. “Rockstar has just carried out one of the most blatant and ruthless acts of union busting in the history of the games industry,” Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB, said in a statement. “This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.” Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis said the terminations were “for gross misconduct, and for no other reason,” the author notes.