Game company union reps take their case to the White House

polygon.com:

The fight to unionize the games industry made it all the way to the White House on Thursday. That’s where Alex Speidel, one of the lead organizers from the United Paizo Workers met with President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and secretary of labor Marty Walsh inside the Oval Office. The meeting was confirmed with an official photo on the President’s Twitter account.

Present in the Oval Office with Speidel were members of Titmouse Productions (The Legend of Vox Machina), who are organized under the IATSE. Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls was also there. The most high-profile labor leader on hand for the event, Smalls was asked to testify before the Senate Budget Committee by its chairman, Senator Bernie Sanders.

WATCH: Opening statement from Christian Smalls (<a href=«https://twitter.com/Shut_downAmazon?ref_src=» https: www.polygon.com>@Shut_downAmazon

), Amazon Labor Union President, before the Senate Budget Committee. Full video here: https://t.co/FPLeBtk7Hw pic.twitter.com/RTRzxBrO6b

“This is not a left or right thing,” said Smalls, speaking about the right to unionize without illegal interference from management. “This is a working-class issue, and it’s the workers at the bottom that make these corporations go.”

Sanders took the opportunity to slam what he called Amazon’s union-busting activity. “Amazon has done everything possible — legal and illegal — to defeat union organizing efforts,” he said.

While workers at Amazon distribution centers around the country have had a difficult time organizing their workplaces, workers at Paizo had much smoother sailing on their way to voluntary recognition — that is, to being formally recognized as a collective bargaining unit by Paizo management. According to