Union files labour board complaint on behalf of Ubisoft Halifax workers

The union representing dozens of laid-off workers at a Halifax video game studio has filed a formal complaint accusing the company of shutting down to quash the recently-formed local union.

CWA Canada filed the legal complaint on Tuesday with the Nova Scotia Labour Board after Paris-based Ubisoft shut down its Halifax office on Jan. 7.

Workers in Halifax learned just before Christmas that they were certified to join the country’s only all-media union; however, the video game giant closed its Halifax office, saying it needed to reduce costs and streamline operations.

CWA says its lawyers called Ubisoft last week demanding records that would back its claim that finances led to the closure, and that it wasn’t to avert the formation of the company’s first North American unionized studio. It was supposed to represent 61 of the 71 workers.

“It’s against the law to stop workers from joining a union in Canada, but the slap on the wrist employers often get is not enough to stop this,” said CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth in a statement. “The penalty should reflect the reality of intentional corporate bullying.”

Ubisoft is one of the world’s most successful game-developing companies, employing 17,000 people globally, including over 4,000 in Toronto, Winnipeg and four cities in Quebec.

CWA Canada says it has vowed to keep fighting for better compensation and new jobs for the laid-off workers.

“Boosting the penalty is the only way to stop these global giants like Ubisoft, Amazon, Walmart and Microsoft from bullying workers by shutting down while scouring the globe for cheaper locations, and more tax money,” Smyth said. “Canadians build these products and Canadian consumers buy them, we deserve better.”

Ubisoft workers included producers, programmers, designers, artists, researchers and development testers.