Title: Democracy at Work. Unions and Works Councils in the Games Industry

Abstract: Unions and works councils empower workers to shape their workplaces, leading to better working conditions and a healthy democratic society. However, the games industry is sorely lacking in widespread worker representation. In this talk, we will give an overview of the main labor laws in Germany. We will explain how unions and works councils work and what they have done in the past and are doing today to help workers improve their workplaces. Finally, we will describe how you can organize yourself and the benefits as well as obstacles you can expect.

Speaker-Bios

Matthias Grzegorczyk (he/him) has been working as an organizer for the trade union ver.di for five years. He is responsible for the IT sector, which also includes the GameDev-industry. He helps ver.di-members to organize works councils and to develop trade union structures at their workplaces. Before that he was a worker in the IT- and fashion-industry, where he was involved multiple times in founding works councils. He has been a union member since he finished school and started working. He studied Social Sciences and History at the University of Duisburg.

Mathew Varkki (he/him) is a Senior Technical Artist that loves everything surrounding games. From the creative side that creates unimaginable worlds to the technical systems that make them possible to experience.
In the past, he has worked in digital media, as a 3D and TechArt freelancer, at Indie game studios and currently works at an AA+ game studio. With this variety of projects, teams and involvements political activism, he has gained a vast amount of knowledge and a lot of insight of the different layers of the industry.
Link: https://lnk.bio/rayvshimself

 

The lecture will take place in a hybrid format, allowing you to participate either in person or virtually via Zoom.

Zoom Invite:

Topic: Guest Lecture: Democracy at Work
Time: Jun 30, 2026 05:30 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
Join Zoom Meeting
https://th-koeln.zoom-x.de/j/65040546182?pwd=eCoBHbEk62zL1zTrP7EHFjgyeZQbqj.1

Meeting ID: 650 4054 6182
Passcode: 073527