For the first time ever, Microsoft has recognized a union representing employees. The unit consists of about 300 quality-assurance testers at the company’s videogame unit, ZeniMax, that it acquired in 2021. Zenimax owns game-maker Bethesda which developed the blockbuster video games The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Starfield.
Last June, Microsoft committed to a labor neutrality agreement covering newly acquired Activision Blizzard workers. That means the company would not fight efforts by workers to unionize. And CWA says it kept that commitment.
ZeniMax workers announced their decision to unionize on Dec. 5. An election was held Dec. 31, and CWA announced Jan. 3 that workers voted “overwhelmingly” to unionize.
