Lawsuits, overtime, and organized labor

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    • Lawsuits, overtime, and organized labor

      These articles are about the treatment of game developers by big publishers - I think we're seeing something starting here that harkens back to the organized labor movement in Hollywood back in the 1930's.

      livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/


      gametab.com/news/174082/

      I'm not exactly a labor union fanatic - and generally I believe that market forces should dictate things like salary and benefits. Working hours, conditions, safety, and those issues are certainly in organized labor's field - that's how they got started in the slaughterhouses in Chicago. Mental anguish has already been used in the courts as a means to compensate victims, and I wonder how long it will be before big companies like EA realize that their profits and earnings are at risk if they perpetrate, encourage, or even turn a blind eye to uncompensated 60+ hour workweeks.

      Lawsuits are brought against the big boys first - like EA, Sony, and Microsoft. Unfortunately their mistakes may very well dictate how the rest of us do business. Believe me, this will not be pretty - but it is essentially inevitable. If you run a small studio - make damn well sure your staff is happy, or you may find yourself dealing with a union in your own shop.

      That will probably put most small shops right out of business, unless you move to India or Russia. No matter what happens, this will get a lot uglier in the coming days.
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot

    • The interesting thing about this is an assumption that most of the employees seem to be operating under. Whenever the subject of hours come up, inevitably, it seems, someone mentions 'exemption'. They refer to a California law that supposedly exempts businesses from having to pay overtime to certain 'specialty' employees, including software programmers. This is Senate Bill 88. However, Senate Bill 88 specifically does not apply to the entertainment industry -- television, motion picture, and theater industries are specifically mentioned. Further, even in software, there is a pay minimum on the exemption: those exempt must be paid at least $90,000 annually. I can assure you that the majority of EA employees are in fact not in this pay bracket; ergo, these practices are not only unethical, they are illegal.


      8o That's appalling!!! Come on Arnie, if you want to be president first you gotta fix that up.

      I always though EA was crap. I have never bought a single one of their games and I'm now sure that I never will.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Gerry ().

    • I am in fact a union electrical worker in Las Vegas. I have to say that there are many pro's and con's to the organized labor gig as it stands.

      Union labor promotes higher levels of skill and quality of workmanship. It also promotes a better quality of life and standard of living for the workers.

      On the down side, there is generally little incentive to excell beyond the required in quality and performance. All workers are paid the same, work the same hours, take the same breaks.

      For the employer this means higher wages/salaries, higher quality (assuming the union hall actually ensures the skills are present rather than just shoving warm bodies) and moderate motivation. For many, higher quality is an "intangible." I've always looked at it like this - you want to get what you pay for, right? In my line of work I see men who don't care if that light fixture is level - but you don't want crooked lights in your home, right? If the door falls off of your car the fourth time you open it you'll be upset I think.

      Another thing that the union does is set an agreed standard for hours worked. The first 8 hours I work in a day I am paid my standard wage. The next 4 I'm paid time and a half, and anything after that is double time. If I have less than 8 hours between shifts then the following shift is paid at double time. Overtime pay is to punish the employer for poor planning, not to reward the worker - or any other odd reason I've heard. Overtime is needed because management failed to allow enough time in the production schedule to complete tasks and then failed to hire an appropriate number of workmen to make up for the shorter time allocated.

      I'd hate for people to have to put up with some of the practices that have plagued the unions in the past (the whole "give up your job 'cause Bob has seniority" gig for one). It's supposed to be a "brotherhood" but in life your family tends to suffer more for you....

      I'm not saying that unionism is the solution - just that it can be A solution that may work. It's not for everyone, and I think small shops will still be able to run without tangling with it, but at the same time it will protect the workers from many of the abuses they have to deal with now. If my employer failed to properly compensate me for overtime worked he'd be in hot water.

      All in all I hope this entire thing doesn't turn into a giant brawl....

      Rich
      "Your job is not to die for your country. Your job is to make some other poor sod die for his."

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Nebuchadnezzar ().

    • Electronic Arts promises workplace change

      I really like the last line. Too true, I just hope there are companies out there that have the same goal as the developers. There used to be, but I'm seeing less of it every day.

      Cred goes to Robert Helmer at Shellcity.net for sending me that link.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Gerry ().

    • I just came from an exec. management offsite where I work, and one of the discussions we had dealt with the problems of business development (signing new development contracts) and project planning.

      Basically, the problem goes something like this - a bus.dev. guy gets a deal signed by doing a lot of hard selling, not project planning. The developers usually get the project before significant, and important, details have been worked out in the project plan. The customer already has set expectations about the project, and the framework of the deal has already been executed.

      Then, to make things worse, the development team usually takes 'opportunities' in development to make the project better, cooler, more fun.

      Those two things conspire to create a staggering amount of work - even in the best of times.

      And, we haven't even talked about the quality of staff, experience of management, Christmas, competition, changing platforms and tools, and Murphy's law.

      This only gets better if your team really knows what it's doing, there's a great management staff in place to support the team, and everyone has a great relationship with whoever's paying you - the customer. If those fundamentals aren't there, it's going to be a really tough road for your project team.
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot

    • Originally posted by mrmike
      Basically, the problem goes something like this - a bus.dev. guy gets a deal signed by doing a lot of hard selling, not project planning. The developers usually get the project before significant, and important, details have been worked out in the project plan. The customer already has set expectations about the project, and the framework of the deal has already been executed.


      Damn that sux. That's what I used to like about Rareware, the didn't release details and didn't make apologies for delays ect, they just made the best games they could. But something changed and the lost a whole heap of great developers and made a move to MS and now nothing seems like the good old days.

    • Update: livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/

      I also would like to announce the initial inception of Gamewatch.org -- don't visit it yet, there's still nothing there. =) But there will be. It is my intent to start a non-corporate-sponsored watchdog organization specifically devoted to monitoring quality of life in the game industry. As much as I would like to extend this to the entire software industry, games are what I know, and where I need to stay right now. However, this project will be as open-source as I can possibly make it. All code written for the maintenance of the site will be available to the public, and all financial information for the organization (which will be a volunteer one) will likewise be made public. While GameWatch will occasionally run articles, its primary purpose will be to provide a reporting site where employees from any company in the industry can come to share their experiences. Our goal is to hold up and reward those companies that operate ethically, the better to ensure that top talent can seek out employment where they will be respected and best provided with the resources to do their jobs, namely family time, sleep, and sanity. Employees will be able to post anonymously or publically, as they so choose, and will also be offered an in-between option to register with the site but have only their testimonial posted, not their name or contact information. Registered testimonials will be given a greater weight than anonymous ones, but both options will be available. We will also provide forums for advice and discussion for all game industry affiliates, including existing employees, veterans, and aspiring students.


      Let it be known that no developers were harmed during the making of this game.