Ubisoft workers to hold rally at Grande Parade protesting studio shutdown

CITYnews halifax / By Steve Gow

Supporters and former workers from Ubisoft Halifax will be holding a rally calling for more action as they try to get answers less than a month after being laid off.

The French company responsible for hit video games like Assassin’s Creed: Rebellion, quietly closed its Halifax studio on Jan. 7, less than three weeks after workers successfully certified a union.

Lead programmer Jon Huffman is one of 71 workers impacted by the sudden closure of Ubisoft Halifax.

He says employees are still looking for answers after the shutdown, noting Ubisoft did not notify the union in advance of the announcement to employees.

Huffman says former staff members and supporters will gather at 10 a.m. at Grande Parade in Halifax on Thursday to raise awareness as the Nova Scotia Labour Board continues to review the circumstances of the closure.

Related:

• Government says it is supporting Ubisoft workers as NDP calls for strengthened labour laws
• Union files labour board complaint on behalf of Ubisoft Halifax workers
• Ubisoft closing Halifax studio days after workers voted to unionize

“Hopefully, this does bring some more awareness of the urgency of this matter,” says Huffman. “More importantly is raising awareness with our local representatives, our local MLAs, and have them take a look at things and realize that this is an ongoing pattern now. We have seen large multinational companies come in, buy up successful local businesses, run them for a few years and then shut them down.”

Huffman goes on to say that type of irresponsible action warrants careful public scrutiny from local politicians.

According to the group’s website, the outcome of the dispute with Ubisoft “may influence how workers across the Canadian game industry assess the risks associated with exercising their legal rights,” noting that if closures align with efforts by employees to unionize, it could have a “chilling effect” on future organizing, even where such activity is explicitly protected by law.

He adds that employees have also launched a public letter-writing campaign inviting community members to demand accountability, which can be found on the group’s website.