CODE-CWA Newsletter: March 7, 2025
CODE-CWA Heads to GDC 2025
CODE-CWA is super excited to be attending the Game Developers Conference this year! Our booth will be stationed at C1701 and we hope to see you all there. Below, you will find an itinerary of where to find us:
Video Game Labor at a Crossroads: New Pathways to Industry-Wide Organizing
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Room 3020, West Hall
While video game workers have been successfully winning certified units in all types of workplaces and job titles, from AAA studios to independent developers, hundreds of thousands of game workers lack a clear pathway to union certification. The deepening crisis of politics and labor in the US and internationally is making the road to certification even harder, while the crisis in our own workplaces continues unabated - no end in sight to critical problems like severe overwork, racial and gender inequity, and unchecked corporate greed. In this session, workers from recently certified union campaigns are in conversation with a new wave of activists who are poised to shake up our conception of what it means to be a union.
Unions in Gaming: The Past, Present, and Future
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: Room 3001, West Hall
Video game workers are beginning to unionize, but the path has been slow and rocky so far. Some studios that organized years ago have still not reached contracts, while others have run into management resistance and even internal strife. It's been enough to leave some skeptical workers wondering: Why is this taking so long?
Join Bloomberg's Jason Schreier for a candid one-on-one conversation with Tom Smith, Senior Director for Organizing at the Communications Workers of America, about the ups and downs of unionizing the video game industry. They'll discuss how the union effort has been going over the last half-decade, the wins (and losses) that workers have seen along the way, and what comes next for a battered workforce.
Game Career Seminar: Industry at a Crossroads: Union Experiences in Video Games
Date: Friday, March 21
Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: Room 3005, West Hall
This session brings together leaders of the unionization movement in video games, including those who have successfully unionized some of the largest AAA studios and notable indies, as well as negotiating groundbreaking workplace standards through a union contract. The panelists share the experiences and impact of unionization, and offer concrete tips for those interested in joining the movement to raise standards for video game workers. The panel includes union leaders at Bethesda Games Studio, Blizzard Entertainment, and ZeniMax, and goes beyond past discussion and highlights the actual accomplishments and ongoing work of building the union movement in video games.
Join us on Saturday, March 15 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET for an introduction to unions and organizing conversations training. All levels of experience are welcome and encouraged!
Check out the CODE-CWA organizer training program for even more upcoming trainings.
TCGunion-CWA Hosts “Syracuse Stands Up! Building Labor’s Power in 2025” Town Hall
On Sunday, March 9, CWA Local 1123-TCGunion will bring together workers, CWA officers, elected representatives, and Syracuse community members in a “Syracuse Stands Up! Building Labor’s Power in 2025” town hall to discuss strategies for building worker power in Syracuse.
Worker power is essential to the fight for justice, dignity, and equity. Even amid turmoil with the current administration, CWA Local 1123-TCGunion members are continuing to push for a fair contract and have already secured impressive wins with Syracuse-based eBay subsidiary TCGplayer. The event will begin with members of the CWA Local 1123-TCGunion bargaining committee sharing a campaign update, followed by a panel led by local labor leaders.
NBC Digital NewsGuild-CWA Workers Ratify New Contract
Earlier this week, editorial staff at NBC News, NBC News NOW, and TODAY (TNG-CWA Local 31003) ratified a new three-year contract with NBC. The new contract, the first for the bargaining unit since 2019, protects members during future corporate restructuring and delays recently announced layoffs. It also will provide targeted workers with additional pay, health care, and rehire rights.
“This contract is a huge step forward for journalists at NBC News,” said Tate James, documentary video editor and NBC Digital NewsGuild Chair. “We will now have the job security essential to fighting for transparency and accountability without fear.”
The contract is the culmination of a nearly five-year fight, during which employees engaged in numerous public actions, including a one-day strike in 2023, to protest the company’s repeated violations of federal labor law. NewsGuild-CWA members protested across New York City, dogging NBC corporate executives and events, and even projecting pro-union messages on the façade of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
The new contract includes immediate pay increases, first-ever salary minimums, an end to forced arbitration in cases of discrimination and harassment, and extended workday and weekend pay policies that provide compensation for extra work.Workers at Alamo Drafthouse Fight Back Against Unfair Firings
CWA Local 7777 members at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Denver, Colo., walked off the job on Valentine’s Day in response to the company’s unfair layoffs and bad faith bargaining. The workers, who are bargaining their first contract, returned to work on February 18.
International media giant Sony acquired the theater chain last year. CWA members at the Denver theater contend that the firings have no financial justification and that during past slow periods workers accepted reduced hours rather than layoffs. “The company’s own financial data contradicts the need for these layoffs,” said Claude Grossi, who is a member of the bargaining committee. “Their outlook is optimistic, and box office projections show significant industry growth. This is not about economic hardships. It’s about corporate interests overtaking worker rights.”
Workers were terminated with little to no warning and neither severance, due process, nor opportunity to appeal. Since returning, workers have been denied their regular shifts, throwing personal schedules into disarray. CWA Local 7777 has filed a separate unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over the blatantly retaliatory scheduling.
Alamo Drafthouse workers at two UAW Local 2179-represented locations in New York City also went on strike last week and have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board citing bad faith bargaining during negotiations. The UAW members remain on strike.
You can send a letter to Alamo Drafthouse and owner Sony Pictures Entertainment via a worker-led letter-writing campaign and support fired union siblings through their GoFundMe page.
March 4, 1913 – President William Howard Taft signs legislation creating the Department of Labor. Former United Mine Workers Secretary Treasurer William B. Wilson is named to lead the new department.
March 7, 2003 – American Federation of Musicians Local 802 members strike Broadway musicals and shows go dark when actors and stagehands honor picket lines. The strike was resolved after four days.
March 8, 1979 – César Chávez leads 5,000 striking farmworkers on a march through the streets of Salinas, Calif.
CODE-CWA Newsletter: February 21, 2025