TCGPlayer Workers Win Vote To Unionise

thegamer.com:

Workers at the MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon card game marketplace, TCGPlayer, have successfully unionised. This makes them the first union under eBay, having won the vote with 136 workers in favour of the union.

Now, TCGPlayer staff plan to move on to negotiating with management, having previously accused bosses of engaging in union-busting tactics prior to the vote. This also comes just four months after being acquired by eBay, who allegedly threatened employee job security to stop the union from forming.

Related: Interview: Keywords Devs Couldn't Afford To Work, So They Unionized

"We’re excited to finally have a seat at the table, a real voice on the job," says TCGPlayer worker Jennifer Bonham. "We are ready to take on a more active role in determining the conditions of our work to ensure a better quality of life for ourselves, and a better quality of service for our customers."

This was the second attempt by TCGPlayer workers to unionise, with staff backing down from a previous plan to organise in 2020. When they decided to try again in 2023, the Communication Workers of America (CWA union) says they were met with an "onslaught of attacks and multiple labour violations."

When asked for comment on this by Gizmodo, eBay didn't outright deny the allegations. However, it stated that it, "respects every employee’s right to choose or decline union representation," and said that it wants to "protect and empower our employees’ rights through a fair and free election." It added that it wanted workers to make an "informed" decision, but did not comment on allegations that management was actively discouraging workers from unionising.

In the meantime, TCGPlayer workers are awaiting the findings of several unfair labour