Unions have called employees of video games giant Ubisoft to go on strike for three days in a dispute over remote working and pay, hitting a firm already struggling with poor sales and a collapsing share price.
This week's strike, caused by a September message from management insisting on a return to three days working in the office for all staff worldwide, follows on from another walkout in February when hundreds in France joined a dispute over pay.
Unions said they had received no response to the grievances aired in February and that the September message was "the straw that broke the camel's back", Clément Montigny, a delegate for the Montpellier studio's video game workers’ union (STJV), told French news agency AFP.
Ubisoft managers told staff in an email that returning to the office was vital to foster creativity, and promised to give workers time to adjust.
The trade unions are denouncing the decision, which was taken without consultation, and around 50 people were reported on a picket line in Montpellier, with Ubisoft offices in Annecy, Lyon and Paris also expected to be affected.
'A right recently acquired'
The company wants its 4,000 French employees to return to the office at least three days a week.
"This decision is quite unfair. We're going back on a right that employees have recently acquired," Marc Rutschlé, Solidaires informatique union delegate, told franceinfo.
Some employees will not be able to come back to the office as much. Like this Ubisoft employee who now lives hundreds of kilometres from the Paris headquarters: "I've had to move house, so I can't come back for three days face-to-face. I'm going to have to ask myself whether I should leave the company or not, because I'm going to have to make a choice between staying with the company or making a choice for a better quality of life."
According to the unions, staff departures, including some rare profiles, could jeopardise video game production in France.
Ubisoft sales down
Titles such as "Star Wars Outlaws", "Skull and Bones" and the new episode of "Prince of Persia" have failed to impress, and the company spooked investors by delaying the latest release of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise to next year.
On social networks, its games are regularly the target of criticism and mockery, a phenomenon now known as "Ubi-bashing."
Also, the value of Ubisoft shares has collapsed by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the year, touching their lowest level in 10 years in September.
Negotiations on remote working began on 10 October with unions and management.
(With newswires)
