It could be referred to as a PR disaster for the Hamburg gaming company Goodgame Studios – the situation surrounding the layoffs of employees who wanted to establish a works council continues to escalate.
One thing is clear: Whether Goodgame Studios really laid off 15 employees because they wanted to establish a works council is still unclear. Although there are many indications pointing to this, the company itself denies it.
However, the Hamburger Abendblatt now reports that the managing directors held a speech in front of the employees, in which they attempted to persuade the staff to oppose the establishment of a works council. Furthermore, the invitations to the works meeting, which is considered a prerequisite for a possible establishment of a works council, were not forwarded to the employees. The managing directors are said to portray themselves as victims who feel attacked from the outside.
Outrage at Ver.di
Gabriele Weinrich-Borg from Ver.di, who advocates for the establishment of a works council at Goodgame Studios, expressed her anger over the recent events. She stated to the Hamburger Abendblatt: “I am outraged by how the company handles the issue of the works council.” She has never experienced anything like this in her entire career in the union.
Furthermore, they want to check whether the stated reasons for termination, such as performance deficits, are even justified. Gabriele Weinrich-Borg: “The labor court will examine whether there are justified reasons for the termination.” In addition, she wants to continue to advocate for the establishment of a works council at Goodgame Studios.
The management, meanwhile, continues to keep a low profile and stated only that the layoffs have nothing to do with the establishment of a works council. However, it has come to the public that the two founders of the company, Kai and Christian Wawrzinek, addressed around 100 employees and said that the manner of the layoffs was wrong, but they feel attacked from the outside and do not want to let themselves be dictated by the “dictate from outside” under any circumstances.
Employees are now saying that within the company, one feels like being in a spy movie and cannot be sure with whom one can speak about what.
Delay tactics from Goodgame Studios?
In talks with Ver.di, the company reportedly stated that it could not quickly find a location where it could hold the works meeting and the invitation to it was only in German, which excluded international employees. Gabriele Weinrich-Borg describes this as delay tactics.
Since the laid-off employees must leave the company by December 31, they cannot participate in a works meeting in January. Nevertheless, Gabriele Weinrich-Borg does not want to give up and is convinced that other employees in the company are also interested in wanting to establish a works council.
Meanwhile, Ver.di is also fighting on another front, as even at the company Xing, there is resistance against establishing a works council, as this concept is allegedly outdated. Gabriele Weinrich-Borg believes that especially young employees need to be aware of what rights they have in a company and what a works council really means. There are still significant deficits, especially in young sectors.
The Goodgame Studios are in a poor light, which is partly due to the fact that they are simply not thoroughly addressing the events. Action should be taken quickly. However, the damage to their image has already been done.
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