According to the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a batch of video game testers at Microsoft has established the company’s first recognized union.
CWA, the largest communications and media labor union in the US, stated that a “supermajority” of ZeniMax Studios’ quality assurance workers voted to join the union. ZeniMax is famous for producing the Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Quake Champions, and Fallout video games.
Senior Quality Assurance Tester, Skylar Hinnant, was quoted as: “We’re thrilled to kick off 2023 in a workplace that’s stronger and more equitable than it was last year… 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.”
CWA President Chris Shelton commented, “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union… 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.”
