QA workers at ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, formed a union called ZeniMax Workers United (CWA), becoming Microsoft’s first group of employees.
“Today, we, the majority of QA workers at ZeniMax, are proud to announce the launch of our union with @CWAunion,” said the ZeniMax Workers Union. murmured (opens in new tab)“We are the first group of workers at Microsoft to formally unionize. We are empowered to defend ourselves and build a thriving future with the company.”
“ZeniMax QA workers are very passionate about what we do and the games we make. You can get it.The unions at work protect us and make sure our passions are lost.It’s not taken for granted.”
The union hopes to secure four main points for its members.
- Fair treatment of all individuals and wages commensurate with the value they provide
- Opportunity for promotion within the company
- Accountability and transparency
- Decision-making voice for scheduling, workload, and more
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a new york times (opens in new tab) The report unsurprisingly cites some employees who cited Crunch as a factor behind the move to unionize: One employee who works for The Elder Scrolls Online said ZeniMax recently made overtime voluntary, but many employees said they still feel pressured to work overtime. Wage rates were also pointed out as a problem.
As was the case with Activision Blizzard, Microsoft promised to remain “neutral” during the voting process and seems to be sticking to its word. According to the report, ZeniMax employees applaud the company for not trying to convince employees to vote against unionization.No doubt Microsoft should: unionization efforts are gaining momentum — his QA guy at Blizzard Albany (opens in new tab) Last weekend, we voted overwhelmingly to join the Game Workers Alliance union. That doesn’t usually stop big companies from forming unions, but for Microsoft, which is seeking FTC approval, labor peace will almost certainly help. (opens in new tab) For Activision Blizzard’s struggling acquisition.
The Communications Workers Alliance union, the parent company of Game Workers Alliance (and possibly ZWU), also credits Microsoft for not interfering with ZeniMax’s unionization efforts, opening the door for further game workers unionization efforts in the future. doing.
“When workers get the chance to join unions without company interference, they can make their voices heard in the workplace,” CWA tweeted. “We are excited to support ZeniMax Quality Assurance Workers to join the growing video game labor movement in the United States.
“We applaud Microsoft for remaining neutral throughout this process and allowing workers to decide for themselves whether they want to unionize. The right to choose freely and fairly about union representation should be in the hands of workers, not management. It chose to attack, undermine and demoralize its workers when forming, another wise choice for other companies to emulate for their corporate culture, employees and customers.”
We applaud @Microsoft for remaining neutral throughout this process and allowing workers to decide for themselves whether they want a union.December 5, 2022
Microsoft’s reaction to ZeniMax’s QA union stands in stark contrast to Activision Blizzard’s. Activision Blizzard actively sought to undermine employees seeking to organize from anti-union narratives. (opens in new tab) withhold a raise (opens in new tab) From Raven QA workers for union-related activities. He even refused to negotiate with his QA union at Raven until mid-June. Perhaps coincidentally, maybe not, the announcement that Activision Blizzard’s management would enter into “good faith negotiations” came just days before Microsoft’s “labor neutrality pact”. (opens in new tab)with the CWA on union efforts at Activision Blizzard.
This is a big step forward, but there is still work to be done before the ZeniMax QA union reaches consensus. The union said its election process will continue “over the next four weeks.” We’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment. I will update if I get a reply.
