Microsoft’s first-ever video games union has voted to strike in protest of low wages and other issues.
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In 2023, QA workers at Bethesda made history by unionizing into the ZeniMax Workers United (ZWU). Eventually, other Bethesda Game Studios employees also unionized, forming the first “wall-to-wall” video games studio union at Microsoft.
Now the ZWU union has voted to strike. In a recent press release, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) say that 94% of the union has voted in favor of a strike. ZeniMax Workers United cite numerous grievances with Microsoft, including low wages compared to the higher costs of living, work being outsourced to third parties without warning, and the lack of progress on any negotiations are all major reasons for the strike.
A bargaining unit of hundreds of video game workers at Microsoft subsidiary ZeniMax Media-represented by Communications Workers of America Locals 2100, 2108, and 6215 (ZeniMax Workers United-CWA)-has overwhelmingly voted, by more than 94%, to authorize union leadership to call for a strike. ZeniMax Workers United-CWA and Microsoft have been negotiating for a first contract for nearly two years.
“Underpayment and costly RTO initiatives have caused many of us to put our lives on pause because our income does not match even the rising cost of living in the cities where ZeniMax insists we live and work to maintain employment,” said ZeniMax Workers United-CWA Local 6215 Member and Senior QA Tester Zachary Armstrong.
“None of us wishes it had come to this, but if Microsoft and ZeniMax continue to demonstrate at the bargaining table that they’re unwilling to pay us fair wages for the value our labor provides to our games, we’ll be showing them just how valuable our labor is.”
Microsoft recognized the ZWU Union shortly after it was formed.
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