UK union IWGB Game Workers launches manifesto after topping 1,500 members

UK trade union IWGB Game Workers has expanded to over 1,500 members. Co-founder Austin Kelmore shared the news on Bluesky and explained the worker-led organization has "grown an incredible amount" over the past year.

The union has marked the occasion by launching a new manifesto to outline its vision for a better video game industry, and explained it will continue fighting for worker rights.

"We envision a future where job insecurity, long unpaid hours, and inadequate compensation are a thing of the past," reads the manifesto.

IWGB said it intends to fight for a future in which all workers across the game industry have the power to transform their workplace and impact the decision-making process; feel safe and secure in their role; have the tools and knowledge to push back against harmful practices; and are able to work free from harassment and discrimination.

Its newly-launched manifesto claims that vision will be realised by leaning on five core pillars: democracy, solidarity and care, taking action, education, and equality and justice.

"IWGB Game Workers is a union for all workers in the UK games industry and our members come from a huge variety of backgrounds. In order to achieve our mission, we must find common ground and take action on similar issues, although the details of our campaigns and direct action may differ from workplace to workplace," it continues.

For IWGB, finding common ground means collectively working towards achievable goals such as ending reliance on overtime, widespread union recognition, improved baseline pay and an end to the gender pay gap, and contractual protections that shield workers against "firing without cause or careless redundancy measures."

Developers across the industry continue to join unions like IWGB Game Workers or form their own cohorts with the help of organizations like the CWA to find ways of securing their future in the face of rampant layoffs and other harmful practices.

Earlier this year, we spoke with a group of union representatives and members to learn more about the value of collective action in a titanic industry that's crumbling under its own weight.