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TechCrunch
a day ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Video game union announces first contract with Microsoft
In Brief Unionized quality assurance testers at video game holding company ZeniMax announced Friday that they have reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft, which acquired ZeniMax in 2021. This represents Microsoft's first union contract in the United States. It's been a little over two years since approximately 300 QA testers announced that they were unionizing through the Communications Workers of America, and they said they've been negotiating with Microsoft ever since. Bloomberg reports that the contract terms include an across-the-board, 13.5% pay raise on July 1. The contract also incorporates an already-announced agreement around the use of AI. Union members are scheduled to vote on ratifying the contract on June 20. In a statement, QA tester and union bargaining committee member Page Branson called this 'a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after.' While ZeniMax's QA workers were the first to unionize at Microsoft, other teams have followed suit, and the CWA said it now counts more than 2,000 Microsoft video game workers as members.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
QA workers at ZeniMax reach tentative contract agreement
The over 300 quality assurance workers of the ZeniMax Workers United-CWA union have reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft. It is the first contract agreement at Microsoft since the concerted effort to unionize the video game industry began roughly four years ago. 'This is a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after,' said Page Branson, a Senior QA Tester at ZeniMax in the press release announcing the agreement. A ratification vote for the contract will take place in late June. The union, organized by the Communication Workers of America (CWA), was formed in 2023 and was voluntarily recognized by Microsoft as a part of the company's labor neutrality agreement with the CWA. In the two years since, the union and Microsoft engaged in contract negotiations that precipitated a one day strike to protest return to office and outsourcing policies and, in April, a strike authorization vote. The contract details offer up a glimpse of what workers across the industry are fighting for and what they can win. According to CWA's press release, the contract guarantees wage increases – a big deal considering QA are some of the lowest paid workers in the industry. The contract will also include protections against arbitrary dismissal, as well as crediting guidelines – another big deal as there are numerous ways a person who worked on a video game can get left off its credits. While the industry's organization efforts are ongoing, there's been a surge in activity over the last four years. Workers at Raven Software, which was then a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard before its acquisition by Microsoft, organized the first video game union at a AAA publisher in 2022. That win kicked off a series of other high profile unionization efforts across the industry but concentrated primarily within Microsoft – ostensibly to take advantage of the labor neutrality agreement that states that Microsoft will voluntarily recognize union efforts within the company. With ZeniMax workers finally winning a contract agreement at Microsoft, the industry has another first – one that will set a precedent for other, future negotiations.
