This statement was written by the STJV union sections at Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Annecy
On Friday, January 27, we were calling for a strike at all companies of the Ubisoft group in France, together with Solidaires Informatique. This strike follows Yves Guillemot’s announcement that the fiscal year will be difficult and that we must show some effort in the coming year.
Once again, it is we, the workers, who are being asked to bear the burden of the management’s bad decisions, over which we have no influence. We are not fooled by the hypocrisy of this message: when the company is doing well, we are struggling to pick up the scraps, and when it is doing poorly, we are expected to bear the consequences.
This is why we demand :
- negotiations on salaries to obtain increases in line with inflation, in addition to annual increases
- a democratisation of the company’s organisation so that we can finally have a say in the decisions taken
- the possibility for production teams to do their job properly, in other words to have the power to decide the content of the games we produce
This historic strike rallied many people. About forty of us gathered on site in Paris, twenty in Montpellier and we were more than a hundred strikers throughout France. These gatherings allowed us to share our feelings about the company’s policies, but above all to build collective support: you are not alone, your colleagues are experiencing the same pressures as you. Together, we can stand up to management and make our voices heard.
Without us, games do not exist, it is normal that we can have our say.
This first strike experience was very rich and instructive, and we are proud to have been able to come together like this. As a result, our union section representatives were able to discuss with management our concerns about inflation and the infamous ‘natural attrition’.
This strike is a first step in the building of a power balance which already gives us more dialogue power via our workers’ representatives, but we must not stop there.
Management must know that we are present and take our opinion into account. This is why we stay alert to management’s communication and the next decisions that will be taken, and will not let go of our demands. This strike was a warning shot, the ball is now in the management’s court.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at or through your local union representatives.