Workers at Vodeo Launch First Certified Video Game Union in North America With the Communications Workers of America

(Oakland, CA) — Workers at Vodeo have achieved formal recognition from management for their new union. Vodeo is a video game studio that releases small, intimate games full of complex, interlocking systems. Vodeo Workers United (CWA) is the first video game studio in North America to secure union representation. The Vodeo union comes on the heels of United Paizo Workers (CWA), a group of tabletop game workers who formed the first North American certified union in the history of the tabletop games industry.

“All workers deserve a union and a say in how their workplace is run, no matter where they work, what their employment status is, or what kind of conditions they work under. We have been inspired by the growing worker organizing within the gaming industry and hope we can set a new precedent for industry-wide standards that will better our shared working conditions and inspire others to do the same,” said Myriame Lachapelle, a producer at Vodeo Games.

Vodeo Workers United (CWA) represents 100% of eligible employees across all job roles, who are entirely remote and spread all over the U.S. and Canada, including independent contractors that make up more than half of the bargaining unit. Moving forward the union will hold transparent contract negotiations that will ensure workers are protected and receive fair returns for their work.

Vodeo Workers United (CWA) reflects a growing trend within the video game industry where game developers are rejecting burn out culture and seeing themselves as part of the broader labor movement. The CODE-CWA unionization efforts at Paizo and Vodeo, and the worker organizing at Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard, showcase an increasing desire by non-traditional workers to organize and positively shape their workplace conditions and the games they create.

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Follow Vodeo Workers United (CWA) at @vodeoworkers.

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.