According to the Bethesda Games Union, the workers in it’s Montreal division are being treated unfairly by Xbox, which is currently in the midst of a massive restructuring process and will see more than 3,000 employees being let go by the end of the current fiscal year. In a new social media post, the union for Bethesda employees have stated that most of the workers in their Montreal branch were told earlier that they would receive the smallest Severance legally possible, without first consulting with the union.
“Last Friday, XBOX flooded news sites announcing every expansion, sequel, and remake they could.
That same day, they told their laid-off Bethesda Montreal employees that they would receive the smallest severance legally possible without bargaining with the union.
Previously, on Monday, July 6th, dozens of employees from Bethesda Game Studios across the US and Canada were told via video call that they were being laid off. They were told they would remain employed until September while the company negotiated severance with our union; this at least provided some solace and breathing room.
However, at the end of the day on Friday, July 17th, the affected Canadian employees (part of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls teams) received termination letters via email.
This was contrary to what they had been told in the Monday calls. These letters stated that the Canadians are to receive the bare legal minimum in terms of severance: eight weeks of pay in lieu of the minimum legal notice, any outstanding vacation pay, etc. They were to also immediately lose their group benefits health insurance.
We’re not going to take this lying down.
We’ve filed yet another legal complaint against Bethesda for continuing to violate labor laws in Canada. Bethesda and XBOX leadership depend on our labor to make them millions, and yet when we do, we are disposed of. The cycle of workers paying for the mistakes of management ends here.”
It’s inherently unfair that whenever huge corporations like Microsoft or Ubisoft has major company-wide adjustments and restructuring, it’s always the employees who end up paying for it in the form of mass layoffs and job cuts.
