As people stream into Place d’Italie in Paris on 31 January 2023 for a second round of major protests against pension reform, a red and black flag bearing the initials ‘STJV’ begins to draw attention. “What organisation are you with exactly?” asks a man dressed in the colours of the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (French Democratic Confederation of Labour, CFDT), France’s largest trade union confederation. “We’re the Union of Video Game Workers,” replies the flag bearer.
While the STJV remains little known within French social movements, let alone amongst the general public, it has continued to attract new members since its creation in 2017 and has increased its activities in recent months. Several dozen developers, designers and 3D graphic artists working for the flagships of France’s video game industry like Ubisoft, Don’t Nod and Gameloft, have joined the recent protests against pension reform.
“The video game industry is not very unionised or politicised, but huge strides have been made in recent years,” says Frédéric*, a developer and one of the co-founders of the STJV. For a long time, the video game industry was an ecosystem apart, largely viewed as incompatible with trade unionism.
“This is the first time that I’ve gone on strike,” says Thomas*, a user experience designer at a studio in Paris since last July. Still a student when the STJV was founded, he joined the union as soon as he began working. “There’s a culture of neutrality in the video game industry, a certain start-up ethos where we don’t really talk about politics,” he says.
“But the reality is that we’ve all been subject to mistreatment at one point or another. Our employers aren’t necessarily familiar with the law and the fact that we talk about it helps to create collective awareness.”
Standing next to Thomas is Julia*, 26, a 3D graphic designer who is very energised by the growing unionisation of her industry. “It’s reassuring to know that we can count on the STJV, and that people are starting to have this awareness. The protests and strikes allow people to speak out about their working conditions,” she…
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Auteur: Simon Mauvieux
