Local members of the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) say 23 unionized
Experis Game Solutions workers were unexpectedly laid off in the middle of their first contract negotiations.
Experis Game Solutions is the video game testing, development, and customer service division of Experis, a
ManpowerGroup company. The organization is the preferred testing partner of several AAA developers and publishers.
Last October, a group of Experis workers announced their plan to unionize with IAM District 10, citing “serious workplace problems.”
"The workers at Experis, who are responsible for quality assurance and troubleshooting of newly developed video games, face a multitude of chronic, industry-wide issues and seek improvements in several areas including pay, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and workplace health & safety issues," according to an October statement from IAM.
The union alleges Manpower has engaged in “a string of retaliatory actions” since the workers voted 35-4 in favor of unionizing last November.
On Aug. 2, 23 unionized Experis workers learned their jobs would be eliminated and their worksite closed by the end of the month, according to a Tuesday statement from IAM.
"Since then, Manpower has frozen hiring, suspended raises and promotions, consolidated projects, laid off eight workers, and moved all of Milwaukee’s work to their Tempe, (Arizona) location, where the workers have also begun an organizing campaign," according to the statement.
"We have always said that we respect the right of our consultants to make their own decisions regarding union representation. Since early this year, we have been meeting with and bargaining in good faith with the IAM and we strongly refute any claims that we have committed unfair labor practices," ManpowerGroup said in a Wednesday statement. "As a provider of flexible workforce solutions, our services must be agile to best support client needs. Due to changing demands in the fast-moving gaming sector and overall performance of the location, we have made the decision to close the Experis Game Solution location in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, this impacts roles in our HQ location and the affected people have been informed. Experis still employs consultants working in tech roles across Greater Milwaukee, and we remain committed to supporting those with IT skills to build their careers in Wisconsin."
Earlier layoffs
An earlier group of approximately eight workers was laid off between March and April, said
Bill LePinske, grand lodge representative of the IAM’s Midwest Territory. Before layoffs began, there were 42 unionized workers at Experis’ Milwaukee office.
LePinske served as the lead contract negotiator for IAM members working at Experis. The union and Experis gathered approximately 10 times to bargain before news of the closure was released. Negotiations were amenable but progress was being made very slowly, according to LePinske.
“They didn’t give any sort of business justification (for the layoffs) or anything like that,” he said.
He said the layoffs are questionable because before the group’s unionization efforts went public, Experis told workers it planned to build the Milwaukee office to nearly 100 workers.
After the vote to unionize, LePinske said Experis put a hiring freeze in place. Pay increases and merit reviews were also frozen, he said.
“During the campaign, they held a series of mandatory captive audience meetings, which we believe to be unlawful, and made these threats that if workers unionized, everything would freeze until they reached a collective bargaining agreement,” said LePinske. “They actually lived up to those threats after we won the election."
The IAM has filed multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges alleging Experis is breaking the law by freezing working conditions and closing the Milwaukee location. The charges are currently under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board.
In addition to the complaint filed with the NLRB, LePinske has reached out to the national AFL-CIO office to flag potential partnership violations. The ALF-CIO has a partnership agreement with Microsoft. That agreement includes guidelines on how Microsoft should interact with unionized employees. Microsoft is Experis’ largest customer, according to LePinske.
“My understanding is that the partnership agreement also trickles down to their vendors,” he said. “Hopefully we can use Microsoft as some leverage for Experis to fully restore work (in Milwaukee). That’s our demand, for full restoration of the work.”
