It's the largest labor union in the gaming industry
Labor organizers in the technology industry have kicked off 2023 with a monumental victory, as Microsoft now has its first official union in the United States.
At ZeniMax, a Rockville, MD-based gaming studio owned by the tech giant, 300 quality assurance (QA) testers voted to unionize on Tuesday, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced.
“Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA President Chris Shelton said in a press release. “Other video game and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft is charting a different course which will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry and as a blueprint for regulators.”
"It's difficult to express in words just how much winning our union matters to us. We've been working so hard to get here that it would be impossible not to be excited." - Dylan, Senior QA Tester, Dallashttps://t.co/DwXOL2hZFj
— CWA (@CWAUnion) January 3, 2023
Microsoft has voluntarily recognized the union, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In June, Brad Smith, vice chair and president of the Redmond, WA-based corporation, published a set of principles for supporting employee organizing and engagement with labor organizations. When ZeniMax employees announced that they were organizing a union in December, Microsoft agreed to remain neutral and allow workers to make their own decision about whether to join the union, according to CWA.
This bargaining unit represents “the largest group of union-represented Quality Assurance testers at any U.S. game studio,” according to CWA, which launched a concerted effort to organize the video game industry in 2020, TechCrunch reported. Workers based in Dallas and Austin, TX, as well as Rockville and Hunt Valley, MD, voted on whether to join CWA between Dec. 2 and Dec. 31.
“Before us is an opportunity to make big changes and bring equity to the video game industry,” said Victoria Banos, senior QA audio tester at ZeniMax. “We want to put an end to sudden periods of crunch, unfair pay, and lack of growth opportunities within the company. Our union will push for truly competitive pay, better communication between management and workers, a clear path for those that want to progress their career, and more.”
“We’re thrilled to kick off 2023 in a workplace that’s stronger and more equitable than it was last year,” said Skylar Hinnant, senior QA tester II at ZeniMax. “This is an empowering victory that allows us to protect ourselves and each other in a way we never could without a union. Our hope and belief is that this is the year in which game workers across the country exercise their power and reshape the industry as a whole.”
