Employees of ZeniMax, a subsidiary studio of Microsoft, want to form a union
ZeniMax Online Studios, former parent company of Bethesda and now a subsidiary of Microsoft is in the process of organizing a union. The workers are organizing in cooperation with CODE-CWA, which has already helped in the creation of two Activision Blizzard unions.
In a statement on Twitter, they announced: "Today we, the majority of QA workers at ZeniMax, are proud to announce the start of our union with [CODE-CWA]. We are the first group of Microsoft employees to officially unionize. We have the right to defend our interests and build a future where we can prosper together with the company."
Today we, a majority of QA workers at ZeniMax, are proud to announce the launch of our union with @CWAunion. We are the first group of workers at Microsoft to formally unionize. We are empowered to advocate for ourselves & build a future where we can thrive alongside the company
- ZeniMax Workers United - CWA (@ZeniMaxWorkers) December 5, 2022
This comes just days after the announcement of the unionization of QA workers at Blizzard's Albany studio. However, it seems that Microsoft will not prevent the creation of the union. During the purchase of Activision Blizzard, the company announced that it would engage in a "direct dialogue" with labor organizations and that it did not believe that resistance to the creation of such organizations would be beneficial.
If the vote passes, ZeniMax Workers United will become the largest video game union in the United States and the first at Microsoft.
Source: The Verge
