Jump to content

Emma Kinema: Difference between revisions

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Wikiprole (talk | contribs)
66 edits
Reworked information into a cleaner intro section, a union organizer career section, and game industry career section.
Tags: Reverted Visual edit
Line 15: Line 15:
}}
}}


'''Emma Kinema''' is an American [[labor organizer]] and co-founder of [[Game Workers Unite]]. In addition to her full-time job as a [[quality assurance]] tester, Kinema volunteered as a games industry organizer in 2018 and 2019. She was hired by the [[Communications Workers of America]] union in 2020 to organize video game and tech workers as part of the [[CODE-CWA|Campaign to Organize Digital Employees]], the first American initiative of its kind in those sectors. The campaign has organized [[Glitch (company)|Glitch]] and [[Voltage Entertainment]] workers.
'''Emma Kinema''' is an American [[labor organizer]] and Senior Campaign Lead on the [[Communications Workers of America|Communications Workers of America (CWA)]] [[CODE-CWA]] initiative to organize tech, game, and digital worker unions in the US and Canada.


== Career ==
== Union Organizer Career ==
She was hired by the [[Communications Workers of America]] union in 2019 to organize video game and tech workers. In early 2020 Kinema helped launch the [[CODE-CWA|Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)]], the first initiative of its kind in those sectors. <ref>{{cite web|last1=Statt|first1=Nick|date=2020-01-07|title=A massive telecom union just launched a new campaign to unionize game developers|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/7/21055445/game-workers-union-cwa-union-partnership-tech-video-games-organizing|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113041313/https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/7/21055445/game-workers-union-cwa-union-partnership-tech-video-games-organizing|archive-date=January 13, 2020|access-date=2020-01-13|work=[[The Verge]]|language=en|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=D'Anastasio|first=Cecilia|author-link=Cecilia D'Anastasio|date=2020-01-07|title=A Big Union Wants to Make Videogame Workers' Lives More Sane|language=en|work=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|url=https://www.wired.com/story/big-union-make-videogame-workers-lives-sane/|url-status=live|access-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407160016/https://www.wired.com/story/big-union-make-videogame-workers-lives-sane/|archive-date=April 7, 2020|issn=1059-1028|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Since 2020, CODE-CWA has organized "thousands of tech, game, and digital workers" with over a dozen organizing campaigns, including several certified unions with collective bargaining rights.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-25|title=Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)|url=https://www.code-cwa.org/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Organizing Campaigns|language=en}}</ref> CODE-CWA campaigns have been launched at a range of workplaces such as major multinational tech companies, small [[Startup company|startups]], video game studios, media companies, [[AAA (video game industry)|AAA game]] publishers, [[Worker cooperative|worker co-operatives]], and [[Tabletop game|table-top game]] companies. <ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-27|title=Campaigns|url=https://www.code-cwa.org/campaigns|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Organizing Campaigns|language=en}}</ref>

She plans to use the Communications Workers of America's infrastructure to fight issues including crunch time, layoffs, and workplace ethics, which she has construed as [[working conditions]] for employees who choose employers based on their ability to impact society.<ref name="adrenaline">{{cite web|last1=Hall|first1=Charlie|date=2020-01-09|title=The effort to unionize the video game industry just got a shot of adrenaline|url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/9/21058485/game-worker-unionization-cwa-code-emma-kinema|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222219/https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/9/21058485/game-worker-unionization-cwa-code-emma-kinema|archive-date=July 19, 2021|access-date=2020-01-12|work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In August 2020, Kinema helped organize the first successful strike in the game industry at [[Voltage Entertainment]].

In CODE organized the New York-based tech company [[Glitch (company)|Glitch]] in March<ref>{{cite web|last1=Heater|first1=Brian|date=2020-03-13|title=Online code collaboration tool Glitch votes to unionize|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2020/03/13/online-code-collaboration-tool-glitch-votes-to-unionize/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222218/https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/13/online-code-collaboration-tool-glitch-votes-to-unionize/|archive-date=July 19, 2021|access-date=2020-04-12|work=[[TechCrunch]]|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and contracted writers for [[Voltage Entertainment]], whose successful July strike led to pay increases and workplace transparency.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Carpenter|first1=Nicole|date=2020-08-11|title=These game writers made history by going on strike — and winning|url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/8/11/21363817/lovestruck-voltage-entertainment-writers-strike-video-game-industry-unionization|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812040349/https://www.polygon.com/2020/8/11/21363817/lovestruck-voltage-entertainment-writers-strike-video-game-industry-unionization|archive-date=August 12, 2020|access-date=2020-08-12|work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In early 2020, Kinema said that she was involved with almost every video game worker unionization drive in the United States.{{r|adrenaline}} CODE campaigns include both small and large, multinational game companies.{{r|Feldman}}

== Game Industry Career ==


{{external media |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHp_DwVm2EA Presentation at XOXO, 2019]}}
{{external media |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHp_DwVm2EA Presentation at XOXO, 2019]}}
Line 24: Line 35:


Kinema and games writer Liz Ryerson were the main figures behind the initial expansion of Game Workers Unite in early 2018.<ref name=Frank2018>{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Allegra |title=This is the group using GDC to bolster game studio unionization efforts |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=2018-03-21 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/21/17145242/game-workers-unite-video-game-industry-union |language=en-US |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222218/https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/21/17145242/game-workers-unite-video-game-industry-union |url-status=live }}</ref> Kinema helped to organize a panel on labor at the March 2019 [[Game Developers' Conference]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Futter |first1=Michael |title=What Game Workers Can Learn From Other Labor Organizations |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=2019-03-22 |url=https://variety.com/2019/gaming/features/what-game-workers-can-learn-from-other-labor-organizations-1203170517/ |language=en |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929144253/https://variety.com/2019/gaming/features/what-game-workers-can-learn-from-other-labor-organizations-1203170517/ |archive-date=September 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in May, helped to organize the walkout at [[Riot Games]] over its handling of sex discrimination. She assisted Riot workers in creating an [[organizing committee]] after they attended a 2018 Game Workers Unite meeting and further advised the organizers via phone.<ref name=NYT-advantage>{{Cite news |last1=Scheiber |first1=Noam |author-link=Noam Scheiber |title=As Grass-Roots Labor Activism Rises, Will Unions Take Advantage? |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=limited |date=2019-09-01 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/business/economy/labor-unions.html |language=en-US |df=mdy-all |access-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106233234/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/business/economy/labor-unions.html |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' named the Game Workers Unite organizers and Kinema (as the group's most public figure) among the most influential people in video games in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Winkie |first1=Luke |title=Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=2018-12-31 |url=https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/video-game-influencers-2018-1203094002/ |language=en |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928185430/https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/video-game-influencers-2018-1203094002/ |archive-date=September 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Kinema and games writer Liz Ryerson were the main figures behind the initial expansion of Game Workers Unite in early 2018.<ref name=Frank2018>{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Allegra |title=This is the group using GDC to bolster game studio unionization efforts |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=2018-03-21 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/21/17145242/game-workers-unite-video-game-industry-union |language=en-US |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222218/https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/21/17145242/game-workers-unite-video-game-industry-union |url-status=live }}</ref> Kinema helped to organize a panel on labor at the March 2019 [[Game Developers' Conference]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Futter |first1=Michael |title=What Game Workers Can Learn From Other Labor Organizations |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=2019-03-22 |url=https://variety.com/2019/gaming/features/what-game-workers-can-learn-from-other-labor-organizations-1203170517/ |language=en |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929144253/https://variety.com/2019/gaming/features/what-game-workers-can-learn-from-other-labor-organizations-1203170517/ |archive-date=September 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in May, helped to organize the walkout at [[Riot Games]] over its handling of sex discrimination. She assisted Riot workers in creating an [[organizing committee]] after they attended a 2018 Game Workers Unite meeting and further advised the organizers via phone.<ref name=NYT-advantage>{{Cite news |last1=Scheiber |first1=Noam |author-link=Noam Scheiber |title=As Grass-Roots Labor Activism Rises, Will Unions Take Advantage? |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=limited |date=2019-09-01 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/business/economy/labor-unions.html |language=en-US |df=mdy-all |access-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106233234/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/business/economy/labor-unions.html |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' named the Game Workers Unite organizers and Kinema (as the group's most public figure) among the most influential people in video games in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Winkie |first1=Luke |title=Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=2018-12-31 |url=https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/video-game-influencers-2018-1203094002/ |language=en |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928185430/https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/video-game-influencers-2018-1203094002/ |archive-date=September 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following two years of discussions,<ref>{{Cite news |last=D'Anastasio |first=Cecilia |author-link=Cecilia D'Anastasio |title=A Big Union Wants to Make Videogame Workers' Lives More Sane |work=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=2020-01-07 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/big-union-make-videogame-workers-lives-sane/ |language=en |issn=1059-1028 |df=mdy-all |access-date=April 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407160016/https://www.wired.com/story/big-union-make-videogame-workers-lives-sane/ |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> in January 2020, [[Communications Workers of America]] hired Kinema to organize workers in the video game and tech industries.{{r|adrenaline}} It is the first such union-sanctioned initiative in those sectors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Statt |first1=Nick |title=A massive telecom union just launched a new campaign to unionize game developers |work=[[The Verge]] |date=2020-01-07 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/7/21055445/game-workers-union-cwa-union-partnership-tech-video-games-organizing |language=en |access-date=2020-01-13 |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113041313/https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/7/21055445/game-workers-union-cwa-union-partnership-tech-video-games-organizing |archive-date=January 13, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her initiative with Wes McEnany is named [[CODE-CWA|Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE)]]. She plans to use the Communications Workers of America's infrastructure to fight issues including crunch time, layoffs, and workplace ethics, which she has construed as [[working conditions]] for employees who choose employers based on their ability to impact society. She also emphasized the slow-moving nature of organizing through one-on-one relationships.<ref name=adrenaline>{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Charlie |title=The effort to unionize the video game industry just got a shot of adrenaline |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=2020-01-09 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/9/21058485/game-worker-unionization-cwa-code-emma-kinema |language=en-US |access-date=2020-01-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222219/https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/9/21058485/game-worker-unionization-cwa-code-emma-kinema |url-status=live }}</ref> CODE organized the New York-based tech company [[Glitch (company)|Glitch]] in March<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heater |first1=Brian |title=Online code collaboration tool Glitch votes to unionize |work=[[TechCrunch]] |date=2020-03-13 |url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2020/03/13/online-code-collaboration-tool-glitch-votes-to-unionize/ |language=en-US |access-date=2020-04-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719222218/https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/13/online-code-collaboration-tool-glitch-votes-to-unionize/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and contracted writers for [[Voltage Entertainment]], whose successful July strike led to pay increases and workplace transparency.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carpenter |first1=Nicole |title=These game writers made history by going on strike — and winning |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=2020-08-11 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/8/11/21363817/lovestruck-voltage-entertainment-writers-strike-video-game-industry-unionization |language=en-US |access-date=2020-08-12 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812040349/https://www.polygon.com/2020/8/11/21363817/lovestruck-voltage-entertainment-writers-strike-video-game-industry-unionization |url-status=live }}</ref> In early 2020, Kinema said that she was involved with almost every video game worker unionization drive in the United States.{{r|adrenaline}} CODE campaigns include both small and large, multinational game companies.{{r|Feldman}}


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==

Revision as of 02:02, 25 November 2021

Emma Kinema
A white woman with brown hair, ear piercings, and thick plastic glasses wears a white, sleeveless shirt with a rose pattern; in the background is a green plant
NationalityAmerican
OccupationLabor organizer
Known for

Emma Kinema is an American labor organizer and Senior Campaign Lead on the Communications Workers of America (CWA) CODE-CWA initiative to organize tech, game, and digital worker unions in the US and Canada.

Union Organizer Career

She was hired by the Communications Workers of America union in 2019 to organize video game and tech workers. In early 2020 Kinema helped launch the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA), the first initiative of its kind in those sectors. [1][2]

Since 2020, CODE-CWA has organized "thousands of tech, game, and digital workers" with over a dozen organizing campaigns, including several certified unions with collective bargaining rights.[3] CODE-CWA campaigns have been launched at a range of workplaces such as major multinational tech companies, small startups, video game studios, media companies, AAA game publishers, worker co-operatives, and table-top game companies. [4]

She plans to use the Communications Workers of America's infrastructure to fight issues including crunch time, layoffs, and workplace ethics, which she has construed as working conditions for employees who choose employers based on their ability to impact society.[5]

In August 2020, Kinema helped organize the first successful strike in the game industry at Voltage Entertainment.

In CODE organized the New York-based tech company Glitch in March[6] and contracted writers for Voltage Entertainment, whose successful July strike led to pay increases and workplace transparency.[7] In early 2020, Kinema said that she was involved with almost every video game worker unionization drive in the United States.[5] CODE campaigns include both small and large, multinational game companies.[8]

Game Industry Career

External videos
video icon Presentation at XOXO, 2019

Emma Kinema's career background in the video game industry has spanned a variety of roles across multiple types and sizes of game companies. She had also been involved in labor organizing since the early 2010s. By the late 2010s, those interests coincided for her as a labor organizer in the games industry.[8] While working full-time as a quality assurance tester for an Orange County, California-based game developer,[9] Kinema became a founding member of Game Workers Unite,[10] a group of volunteers organizing the video games industry. This volunteering, which she estimated as 60 hours per week, included giving and receiving training and was supported by crowdfunded monthly income.[9] Kinema's interest in organizing was propelled by her first- and secondhand experiences with crunch time (long periods of overtime), toxic workplace culture, and issues related to layoffs, pay gaps, discrimination, health care, and artistic credit attribution.[8] She had previously trained with the Industrial Workers of the World.[9]

Kinema and games writer Liz Ryerson were the main figures behind the initial expansion of Game Workers Unite in early 2018.[11] Kinema helped to organize a panel on labor at the March 2019 Game Developers' Conference[12] and in May, helped to organize the walkout at Riot Games over its handling of sex discrimination. She assisted Riot workers in creating an organizing committee after they attended a 2018 Game Workers Unite meeting and further advised the organizers via phone.[9] Variety named the Game Workers Unite organizers and Kinema (as the group's most public figure) among the most influential people in video games in 2018.[13]

Personal life

Her name is a pseudonym chosen so that she could continue working in the games industry without risking dismissal or reprisal under at-will employment. She described undergoing "pretty extreme lengths" to separate her full-time career from her work as an organizer.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Statt, Nick (January 7, 2020). "A massive telecom union just launched a new campaign to unionize game developers". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  2. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (January 7, 2020). "A Big Union Wants to Make Videogame Workers' Lives More Sane". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)". Organizing Campaigns. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Campaigns". Organizing Campaigns. August 27, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Hall, Charlie (January 9, 2020). "The effort to unionize the video game industry just got a shot of adrenaline". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Heater, Brian (March 13, 2020). "Online code collaboration tool Glitch votes to unionize". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  7. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (August 11, 2020). "These game writers made history by going on strike — and winning". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Feldman, Brian (January 31, 2020). "Why Video Game Workers Need a Union: a Q&A with Emma Kinema". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Scheiber, Noam (September 1, 2019). "As Grass-Roots Labor Activism Rises, Will Unions Take Advantage?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Dean, Sam (April 12, 2019). "As video games make billions, the workers behind them say it's time to unionize". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  11. ^ Frank, Allegra (March 21, 2018). "This is the group using GDC to bolster game studio unionization efforts". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Futter, Michael (March 22, 2019). "What Game Workers Can Learn From Other Labor Organizations". Variety. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  13. ^ Winkie, Luke (December 31, 2018). "Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies". Variety. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  14. ^ Milner, David (December 21, 2018). "Game Workers Unite: The Fight To Unionize The Video Game Industry". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emma_Kinema&oldid=1057037891"