Wednesday November 12th 2025
IWGB union protests outside Rockstar Games Edinburgh office last Friday
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
After accusing Rockstar Games of ‘union busting’ after over 30 members of staff were fired, the Independant Workers Union of Great Britian (IWGB) have issued legal claims against the Edinburgh-based game developers over unfair dismissal of staff.
On Friday 31 November, Rockstar Games fired over 30 members of staff, claiming that workers were sharing confidential information but IWGB argued, stating that the sacking was due to ‘trade union activities’, accusing Rockstar of ‘union busting’ since all members of staff fired were all part of a private trade union discord channels and members of IWGB.
This led to IWGB members hosting a protest last Thursday outside Rockstar’s offices in Edinburgh.
Explaining that the firing was unfair, today the union issued legal claims against Rockstar. This legal claim comes shortly after the announcement of the delay of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI, which is expected to break records and earn Rockstar up to $10 billion in sales upon its recently rescheduled release date of November 2026.
Legal claims were issued due to Rockstar declining to meet with IWGB, leading to the union issuing claims on behalf of members of staff fired.
The union explained that they believe that the dismissals amount to ‘victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity’, not for spreading confidential company information which Rockstar have claimed.
The legal team behind IWGB said:
“Despite our representation and attempts to meet with Rockstar to resolve the matter through negotiation, Rockstar have declined and persisted to terminate members of the union in a manner that is unacceptable and unlawful. Accordingly, we have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the Claimants.
“Our members allege that Rockstar’s conduct constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting.”
IWGB’s President, Alex Marshall, added:
“We are confident that what we’ve seen here is plain and simple union busting, and we will mount a full legal defence with our expert group of caseworkers, legal officers and barristers. Employers like Rockstar would do well to understand that private spaces such as trade union Discord servers have protections, and that their company’s contractual clauses do not supersede UK law.
“This case stands as a warning to any employer in the games industry and beyond who thinks they are able to act with impunity against organised workers – we will not be intimidated.”
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