Aug 20, 2026 - CWA News Workers Protest Palantir Partnership

Earlier this week, over 800 CWA members, video game workers, community organizations, and local labor allies held coordinated “Save Our Devs” rallies in the U.S. and Canada to call out layoffs and corporate greed across the industry and to demand fair first contracts across Microsoft’s gaming studios. The rallies were made possible by CWA Locals 1118, 2100, 2108, 6215, 7250, 9433, and 9510 in the U.S., and CWA-SCA Local 30111 in Canada.

Last month, Microsoft’s gaming division—now rebranded as XBOX—announced 3,200 planned job reductions across XBOX, with the first phase of layoffs scheduled to impact 1,600 XBOX workers, including hundreds of union members, in early September. CWA represents nearly 4,000 video game workers at XBOX throughout the U.S. and Canada.

As a result, CWA members and gamers alike have engaged in unprecedented resistance in response to Microsoft’s unilateral actions. Last month, after a press conference where XBOX workers demanded layoff protections, over 500 workers and allies rallied at studio locations across the U.S. and Canada. XBOX fans also posted on Microsoft’s official fan feedback website to call out the layoffs, garnering over 4,000 upvotes and nearly 900 comments on the XBOX Player Voice forum. On July 15, CWA also filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging several labor law violations that require the employer to engage in decisional bargaining over discretionary layoffs.

“Like the people I read about in history books, I’m here to fight for fair contracts for all the unionized workers in the video game industry. I’m here to fight for all the game workers across an industry that has decided to put profits ahead of the workers who are the heart and soul of games,” said ZeniMax Senior User Research and CWA Local 6215 member Elisabeth Whyte, who was impacted by July’s layoffs. “My hope is that the gaming industry will one day return to a model that respects game workers, provides fair compensation, and doesn’t treat a game launch as an opportunity to downsize or close studios.”

Watch the livestreamed rallies on UVW-CWA’s Twitch.

Last week, members of The NewsGuild-CWA from over two dozen Locals, signed a joint statement condemning USA Today Co.’s (formerly Gannett) partnership with data analytics company Palantir Technologies. In the statement, members express concern that the partnership “threatens to undermine trust in our news outlets and raises serious questions about the data security of our readers.”

NewsGuild members were blindsided by the announcement of the partnership, which came from USA Today Co. CEO Mike Reed during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. Reed informed investors that the company would be using Palantir’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools to gather and analyze data from readers.

Also in their statement, members asserted, “We will continue pushing back on ill-planned attempts to force AI into our newsrooms and onto our readers, who deserve quality, human-led journalism. We will advocate for the responsible use of new technologies when it emboldens our journalists and their work, instead of shamelessly promoting AI to support profit-driven corporate edicts.”

Click here to read the full statement from The NewsGuild-CWA.

In July, members of the United Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA Local 9433) launched a Game Worker Hardship Fund to assist union siblings impacted by video game industry layoffs both in the U.S. and in Canada. UVW-CWA members turned to indie video game studio Necrosoft Games for a creative way to help raise money for workers.

Over 100 Necrosoft video game producers, many of them small shops of just a few programmers, agreed to offer their games, 127 of them, in a bundle worth over a thousand dollars at the low price of only a $10 donation. Supporters flocked to the deal and raised an astounding $252,446, proving that class solidarity can achieve stunning results. Over 18,000 customers, with an average contribution of just $13.58, met and exceeded the original goal of $100,000.

Click here for more information about the Necrosoft Games fundraiser.

Last week, CWA members at Noble Knights Games reached a tentative agreement with the company, which, if ratified, would secure improvements in wages, performance pay, benefits, scheduling, time off, and workplace protections. Members achieved these gains without a single concession! The bargaining committee, pictured above, included (left to right) CWA District 4 Staff Representative Wendy Fonseca, CWA Local 4652 President Rob Boelk, and CWA members Bailey Scott, Levi Richmond, and Tanner Bolden.

Click here to learn more about the agreement.

CWA remembers the inspirational life of CWA Local 1103 Chief Steward Gerry Horgan, who was killed while fighting for his union siblings on the picket line during the 1989 strike against NYNEX. Horgan passed away after being struck by a scab worker who drove through the picket line. On the day of his funeral, CWA members, dressed in red, lined the streets for a mile leading to the church.

Today, nearly 40 years later, CWAers still wear red on Thursdays to show our solidarity and to honor the sacrifice Gerry Horgan made, giving everything in defense of his fellow workers.

 
Members of Horgan’s Local, CWA Local 1103, visited his gravesite to mark his passing and celebrate his legacy of service and sacrifice.