Unionized employees at ZeniMax went on strike today after parent company, Microsoft, failed to come to the bargaining table over growing employee concerns. There are reportedly hundreds of unionized ZeniMax workers participating in this strike.
Members of the ZeniMax Workers United-CWA (Communications Workers of America Union) are on a one-day strike as they try to urge Microsoft to make some sort of meaningful progress towards satisfying the requests and demands of the union workers. Those demands being concerns over losing remote work options. Another concern for the union is over Microsoft and management at ZeniMax reportedly outsourcing quality assurance work without any input from the union.
The strike is taking place across four different ZeniMax locations in Maryland and Texas. The ZeniMax Workers United-CWA formed in January 2023 and was the first game union created at Microsoft. The union represents over 300 quality assurance workers.
In October, CWA had filed a charge against ZeniMax claiming unfair labor practices. The charge claims that ZeniMax contracted out quality assurance work without notification to the union. The unionized members say that this unilateral decision to outsource this work could threaten job security at a time where studios are laying off employees quite regularly.
Microsoft issued just one statement to The Verge about today's strike.
We respect our employees’ rights to express their point of view as they have done today. We will continue to listen and address their concerns at the bargaining table.
