Final hearing for Rockstar’s firing of unionized workers is set to begin this

We still appear to have a long way to go in the process of this legal battle, but even so, the fight between Rockstar Games and a group of developers who were fired last year is officially moving to its final hearing before the Glasgow Employment Tribunal this week.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) announced the next step in the case, confirming that the final hearing is set to run between Thursday, September 10th, and Friday, October 16th. The IWGB explains that the fired devs are seeking either reinstatement of employment or due compensation, as well as a finding from the tribunal that their dismissals were unfair.

Readers no doubt recall that this firing raised a lot of questions from the very start, as the affected devs just so happened to have been members of a private union Discord. Rockstar claimed that the firings were because the workers were “distributing and discussing confidential information” about Grand Theft Auto VI, which according to submitted evidence turned out to be vague and unspecified references to multiplayer that fans were already very aware was planned, while the IWGB argued that it was a flagrant attempt at union busting.

“We believe Rockstar has tried to get away with Grand Theft Employment Rights,” remarks IWGB president Alex Marshall. “If Rockstar can get away with firing workers for organizing, then every employer in Britain gets the message that they can do the same. We cannot let that happen.”

source: IWGB.org via Eurogamer