SVZULA councillor in Edinburgh is calling on the city to back former Rockstar North employees after the Edinburgh studio dismissed 31 staff members, formally challenging the game studio over its decision.
On October 30, Rockstar Studios fired over 30 employees for supposedly sharing confidential information in a public forum. Shortly after, this decision was met with various protests occurring outside the offices in Edinburgh and in London outside the headquarters of its parent company, Take Two.
Since then, many have argued that the fired employees weren’t sacked for sharing confidential information, but instead claim it could have been a ‘union-busting’ act, as claimed by The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain.
Take Two denied the claims, stating that the employees were fired for “gross misconduct and for no other reason,” but that hasn’t stopped those affected from speaking out, including a Scottish councillor.
Scottish councillor calls for support over fired Rockstar workers
As originally reported by STV News, Scottish Green councillor Dan Heap has officially submitted a motion to the Fair Work Committee that calls for direct support for the dismissed Rockstar workers, explaining that he wants the council to give them information on their rights and help them apply for financial assistance while they remain out of work.
Rockstar GamesHowever, the key part of the motion targets Rockstar directly. Heap is calling for the council leader to get Rockstar to reconsider the decision and reinstate the workers.
Whether the council agrees with the motion and moves forward with Heaps’ plan to help the workers and bid for them to be reinstated is yet to be seen.