Hundreds of unionized ZeniMax Studios employees are striking today in response to Microsoft’s remote woking policy and decision to continue outsourcing quality assurance work.

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) shared the news in a press release and explained the one-day strike will be taking place at ZeniMax locations in both Maryland and Texas. ZeniMax is the parent company of well known studios including Deathloop developer Arkane and The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda.

Members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, which formed last year with assistance from the CWA labor union, are attempting to take their parent company to task for a perceived lack of progress at the bargaining table when discussing remote work and outsourcing. The strike will occur a month after the CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge against ZeniMax for allegedly contracting out work without notification.

“ZeniMax Workers United-CWA members have raised concerns that ZeniMax’s recent unilateral decision to outsource quality assurance work threatens job security amid record layoffs across the video game industry,” said the CWA in a press release. “The strike comes off the heels of another multi-state action where video game workers at Microsoft subsidiary Activision held rallies in California, Minnesota, and Texas to demand that the company provide exceptions to in-office requirements after implementing a return-to-office mandate.”

ZeniMax Workers United-CWA became the first union to form under the Microsoft banner when a supermajority of over 300 QA workers voted to organize in January 2023. It was the largest union within Microsoft and the U.S game industry at the time, but has since been surpassed in scale by the 600-person Blizzard QA union that formed in March this year.

Union members take Microsoft to task

At the time of its formation, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA members described the decision to unionize as “empowering” and said the move would enable staff to “protect ourselves and each other in a way we never could without a union.”

“Our union will push for truly competitive pay, better communication between management and workers, a clear path for those that want to progress their career, and more,” said union member Victoria Banos, speaking last year.

Towards the end of 2023, Microsoft agreed to incorporate contract workers into the union and converted some into full-time employees.

A number of unions have formed at Microsoft, namely within subsidiaries such as ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard. The CWA has often assisted workers with those organization efforts and cleared a path for unionization within Activision Blizzard by signing a Labor Neutrality Agreement with Microsoft before it acquired the Call of Duty maker. That agreement has since been extended to ZeniMax employees, letting them chart a course towards unionization without interference.

After signing the Labor Neutrality Agreement, the CWA threw its weight behind Microsoft’s merger with Activision Blizzard–vouching for a deal that ultimately resulted in over 2,500 layoffs and the closure of multiple internal studios. 

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