The global video games market nets more than $200 billion in revenue a year. Like every other industry, gaming profits are made possible by countless workers. While many video game workers share an affinity for gaming, they don’t clock in to feed their passions. They work to survive, and many barely make enough to do that. For UFCW 401 workers in Edmonton, conditions at their minimum wage jobs were bad enough before COVID-19 hit. After video game testers were called back into the office earlier than anyone else, they started organizing. James Russwurm of UFCW 401 joins The Real News to discuss conditions in the gaming industry and share the story of how Edmonton’s video game testers found power in a union. Studio Production: Jesse Freeston Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
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Maximillian Alvarez
Ten years ago, I was working 12-hour days as a warehouse temp in Southern California while my family, like millions of others, struggled to stay afloat in the wake of the Great Recession. Eventually, we lost everything, including the house I grew up in. It was in the years that followed, when hope seemed irrevocably lost and help from above seemed impossibly absent, that I realized the life-saving importance of everyday workers coming together, sharing our stories, showing our scars, and reminding one another that we are not alone. Since then, from starting the podcast Working Peopleāwhere I interview workers about their lives, jobs, dreams, and strugglesāto working as Associate Editor at the Chronicle Review and now as Editor-in-Chief at The Real News Network, I have dedicated my life to lifting up the voices and honoring the humanity of our fellow workers.
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