Published
Wed, Nov 1, 2023, 18:30
- The union also alleges that Bandcamp's lay-offs have disproportionately affected Black employees.
Bandcamp's union, Bandcamp United, is continuing to fight for fair treatment from Epic Games and its new employer, Songtradr.
On Sunday, October 29th, the union filed an Unfair Labour Practice violation against Bandcamp's old and new parent companies for discrimination on the basis of labour activity. Last month, Epic Games sold Bandcamp to Songtradr in the midst of lay-offs, and in the process also terminated at least 50 percent of Bandcamp's staff. None of the eight members of Bandcamp United's Collective Bargaining Committee received offers.
While still in the dark about their positions, Bandcamp Union's members fought for their rights and demanded recognition from Songtradr. The union was still in the bargaining stage with Epic Games at the time of the sale.
"Being elected to the Bandcamp United Collective Bargaining Committee was a great honour, and I'm tremendously proud of the work we accomplished in our time together," said team member Ed Blair. "We continue to fight for the future of Bandcamp but it's incredibly disappointing to see Epic and Songtradr discard that work, and our unit's democratically elected leaders."
Another member, Rochelle Shipman, added: "There has been little transparency from Epic and Songtradr about their decision-making criteria throughout this process, and it's hard to see how this hiring decision could have been made randomly."
Earlier this week, Bandcamp United also shared some stats about the Bandcamp lay-offs. The company's Black employees went from 19 to four amid the cuts, meaning the number of Black people at the company had been reduced by 79 percent overnight.
Here's the tweet.
We'll report more as the story unfolds.