Microsoft’s Bargaining Delays Leave Video Game Workers Without Union Contracts Two Years Later

NATIONWIDE – Video game workers at Microsoft subsidiary ZeniMax Media—represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) Locals 2100, 2108, and 6215—are calling out Microsoft for the lack of progress toward a union contract.

In early 2023, quality assurance testers at ZeniMax formed the first video game studio union at Microsoft, becoming the first group of workers to organize under a labor neutrality agreement between CWA and the company. The workers began contract bargaining negotiations with Microsoft later that year, on April 25.

Despite early progress, including agreements on artificial intelligence and contractors, talks have stalled as Microsoft has failed to address workers’ concerns about a lack of remote work options and the company’s unilateral decision to replace in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union.

“It’s become increasingly clear that although Microsoft tries to position itself as a good-faith employer, there’s another story being told behind the scenes at the bargaining table,” said ZeniMax Workers United-CWA Local 2108 member and Senior QA tester Autumn Mitchell. “We are frustrated. Our union will continue fighting until we secure a first contract, and we’re prepared to do whatever it takes—even if that means withholding our labor.”

ZeniMax Workers United-CWA (ZWU-CWA) union members overwhelmingly voted to call on leadership to authorize a strike earlier this month, and ZWU-CWA members further ramped up the pressure with pickets outside ZeniMax offices in both Maryland and Texas last week.

“We are approaching the three-year anniversary of CWA’s groundbreaking labor neutrality agreement with Microsoft,” said CWA Chief of Staff Sylvia J. Ramos. “Thousands of workers have freely and fairly chosen union representation with CWA under the agreement. It’s time for Microsoft’s negotiators to make bargaining contracts with these workers a priority so that together we can fully realize the promise of our partnership.”

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About CODE-CWA

The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.

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