Within 24 hours of learning they would be unemployed at the end of the month, 23 employees at Experis Game Solutions in Milwaukee came together to help each other improve their resumes.
“Everyone came after work,” said Anne Wiberg, a Milwaukee-based union organizer for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Milwaukee’s 10th District. “It’s a very close-knit group. And when you talk to them, you realize very quickly that they enjoy working together.”
After a year of trying to form a union represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Experis employees were told on Aug. 2 that the Milwaukee facility would close at the end of the month. Experis’ parent company is ManpowerGroup, a staffing agency based in Milwaukee.
According to workers and union organizers, this decision is retaliation for workers’ attempts to form a union.
“We have been meeting with IAM and negotiating in good faith since the beginning of the year. We strongly deny all allegations that we have engaged in unfair labor practices,” ManpowerGroup said in a statement.
The statement said the company’s decision to close the Milwaukee location was due to “changing demands in the fast-paced gaming sector and the overall performance of the location.”
More: How ManpowerGroup employees find bugs in video games before they’re released. Sometimes they intentionally try to lose a game.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Experis of “violating the law by freezing working conditions and closing the Milwaukee facility,” the union said in a statement.
“Very low job security”
Experis employees are video game testers who troubleshoot games for various clients before they are released to the public.
The starting wage is $14 an hour, Wiberg said, and the projects are short-term.
“There is very little job security,” Wiberg said. “It’s about more than just what these workers experienced at Experis, which was all of those things. It’s also about this larger context of an industry where there really is no sustainable work without a living wage.”
ManpowerGroup opened the Experis location in 2022 at its Milwaukee headquarters. At the time of opening, the plan was to accommodate up to 170 employees by fall 2023. The company worked with 40 to 50 clients.
But according to employees, the reality was different than expected and the promised salary increases and promotions did not materialize.
The workers began to talk about forming a union.
“When workers started working at this Milwaukee location, they were told there were plans to expand the location,” Wiberg said. “When we started organizing, when we first came together, the hiring was very aggressive. New people were coming in every week.”
The hiring wave ended “very abruptly” when the union made its plans public, Wiberg said.
“Since we went public with this campaign, not a single person has been hired,” Wiberg said.
In a statement, ManpowerGroup said:
“There have been no hiring freezes, promotions or salary increases. We have ensured that we have the resources to meet our customers’ needs and have continued to promote and provide appropriate salary increases in accordance with our usual business processes and applicable laws. We have also kept the union informed of these actions.”
Last November, workers voted 35 to 4 to form a union and begin negotiations on a first contract with Experis.
Bill LePinske, a representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, negotiated this first contract on behalf of Experis employees and said negotiations had been “slow.”
Ten rounds of negotiations have taken place since March.
“This was really a contract that demanded a living wage,” LePinske said. “It wasn’t about demands for free health insurance or multiple pensions or all these other things. These people wanted some basic rights, jobs and a living wage.”
In May, Experis gave 11 employees a raise, with the largest known increase being 35 cents an hour, Wiberg said.
LePinske said Experis claimed these workers were only employed temporarily and there were disputes over the language on layoffs, seniority and removal.
“There were some pretty heated discussions at the bargaining table about their status,” LePinske said. “They are not temporary employees. The employees were not told they were temporary employees. They are paid by Experis and receive their benefits from Experis.”
In response to the union’s statement that these were full-time employees and not temporary workers, ManpowerGroup responded:
“All of our Experis consultants are valued temporary employees. The terms of their employment have always been clearly communicated in our policies, agreements and discussions.”
ManpowerGroup also said, “Experis continues to employ consultants in technical roles in the greater Milwaukee area, and we remain committed to helping people with IT skills build their careers in Wisconsin.”
