The Communications Workers of America, the union representing QA testers at ZeniMax, announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract with Microsoft. If implemented, this contract will be one of the first to go into effect at one of the big AAA game publishers.
Last month, the union voted to authorize a strike in response to challenges to the contract negotiation process; this agreement would avoid a strike from being carried out. In a press release, CWA shared that the agreed contract would grant ZeniMax employees significantly increased protections and would raise pay across the board. It would also implement guidelines on the use of AI, restrict “arbitrary dismissal,” and create processes to ensure that QA testers adequately receive credit in video games that they contribute to.
QA testing has been a hotspot of unionization efforts in the games industry, some of which have been targeted with union-busting efforts. At ZeniMax, the QA testers’ union represents around 300 employees and has been fighting for several years for this contract. In response to the agreement, Jessee Leese, a QA tester and union representative at ZeniMax, stated, “Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity. Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve.”
In early 2023, ZeniMax employees created ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, a coalition of CWA units embedded in the company that was made possible under Microsoft’s neutrality agreement with union activism. Since then, unionization has expanded at Microsoft to include more teams; earlier in May, for instance, the Overwatch 2 team at Blizzard announced that it has fully unionized. There are now over 2,000 unionized employees at Microsoft.
This contract still needs to complete several hurdles before it can be fully implemented. Now that both parties have tentatively agreed, the union will hold a series of explanation sessions for its members to learn about its provisions. Then, in late June, CWA expects to hold a ratification vote among its members.
Disclosure: The author of this article is a member of CWA by way of a graduate student union.
