Organizing Update

Proletariat/Activision

Last week, a supermajority of workers at Activision Blizzard’s Proletariat studio announced that they are forming the Proletariat Workers Alliance/CWA and have filed for a union representation election with the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to filing for an election, the workers asked that management voluntarily recognize their union and respect their right to organize without retaliation or interference. The company has not said whether or not they will recognize the union. The Proletariat workers are the third group of Activision Blizzard workers to file for a union representation election with CWA. The 57 workers in the unit include animators, designers, engineers, producers, and quality assurance workers. Earlier this year, quality assurance workers at Activision’s Raven Software studio in Wisconsin and Blizzard Albany won their union elections, despite Activision Blizzard’s repeated attempts to prevent workers from voting. Read more here.

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ZeniMax/Microsoft

More than 300 Quality Assurance (QA) workers at ZeniMax Media, a video game maker owned by Microsoft, have secured union representation after a supermajority indicated that they wish to join ZeniMax Workers United/CWA either by signing a union authorization card or voting via an online portal. Microsoft honored its stated labor principles and immediately recognized the union after the results were certified by an independent arbitrator.

ZeniMax Workers United/CWA is the first studio at Microsoft to secure union representation, and the largest group of union-represented QA testers at any U.S. game studio. The unit includes all QA employees in the U.S. across ZeniMax's various studios. The workers have been organizing for months to positively transform ZeniMax for the benefit of workers, the company, and the players who enjoy the studios’ games. In an industry that is dominated by companies who are set on preventing their workers from joining unions, the successful organizing of the ZeniMax workers and Microsoft’s swift recognition of their union shows what is possible when big tech corporations respect their workers’ rights and allow them to freely form a union and improve their workplaces. Read more here.