IWGB says Rockstar exec just gave the "green light" for collective action as union busting tribunal continues
Rockstar's head of publishing Jenna Kolbe said workers "will have a union" if they choose that path. Now, the IWGB has issued a response.
Rockstar's head of publishing Jenna Kolbe said workers "will have a union" if they choose that path. Now, the IWGB has issued a response.
During a wide-ranging interview with Rockstar about the sprawling production of Grand Theft Auto VI, Bloomberg asked the company's head of publishing, Jenna Kolbe, for her views on unionisation.
With Rockstar currently embroiled in a high-profile employment tribunal for allegedly firing over 30 people for engaging in trade union activity, it was a pressing question. Kolbe offered a succinct response: "We go where the team goes," she said. "So if they want a union, they will have a union."
Kolbe, who has been summoned for questioning as part of the union-busting dispute, is clearly stating that Rockstar is prepared to play ball with unionising workers. That's despite, according to the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), the company choosing to fire a cohort of UK employees as soon as they passed the threshold for statutory recognition.
Rockstar has repeatedly stated it dismissed those union workers for discussing confidential information in a Discord channel. The IWGB claims the channel was a private space to facilitate union activity.
In response to Kolbe's latest remarks, IWGB Game Workers Branch member Jack Hoxby (one of the workers fired by Rockstar) said the union will regard her comments as a "new green light" for collective organisation.
"We are satisfied that, after committing what we believe was the most ruthless act of union busting the UK games sector has seen, our collective pressure—in the courts, on the streets, and in the workplace—has put Jennifer Kolbe in a position where she must now accept and cooperate with her workers' right to unionise," said Hoxby.
"We hope all current Rockstar workers who are concerned, understandably, about repercussions following the firings, will regard her comments as a new green light to join the union, so that together we can ensure she never orders for mass firings of her employees—without warning, due process, or right of appeal—again.”
The landmark tribunal between Rockstar and UK union workers will now conclude on November 19, 2026—one day before the November 19 launch of Grand Theft Auto VI—after the Take-Two Interactive subsidiary requested additional time for cross-examination.