CODE-CWA Newsletter: November 22, 2024
ZeniMax Video Game Workers Walk Off the Job in Maryland and Texas
Last week, hundreds of Maryland and Texas video game workers and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA members walked off the job in a one-day strike to call out the company for the lack of progress at the bargaining table. Workers cited a lack of remote work options and the company’s replacement of in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union. In October, CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company.
“What we want to get out of this is job security. We have members who wouldn't be able to return to the office if they were forced to and would have to quit even in a hybrid model,” said ZeniMax Workers United-CWA member and Senior Quality Assurance tester Dylan Burton. “We have huge concerns about the way the company is utilizing outsourcing and how that may impact the safety of our jobs over time. Our employer needs to meet us on these issues, and that’s what we hope comes out of this strike.”
Join us on Saturday, December 7, 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!
Join CODE-CWA at the 2024 UNI Games Union Assembly!
On Tuesday, December 3, UNI Global Union will be hosting a virtual 2024 UNI Games Union Assembly to bring together video game workers to share insights and experiences in union organizing. Topics will include reports from participating unions around the world, discussions about layoffs in the industry, and other interesting topics.
The meeting will be at 8AM PST / 11AM EST and is intended for UNI-affiliated video game workers, activists, union delegates, union officials, as well as organizers working on unionizing across the video game industry.
To register, please visit this site.
Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Meets with DOJ Antitrust Division in Defiance of Illegal Gag Order
AWU-CWA recently held a meeting with Department of Justice Antitrust Division officials in order to brief them on worker concerns and argue that worker impacts be taken into consideration for any potential remedies. Additionally, AWU-CWA emphasized the critical role workers play in preventing illegal and unethical conduct—including compliance with antitrust laws—and the need for whistleblower protections to ensure workers can speak out without fearing retaliation, both as individuals and through collective action. Google has a long history of retaliating against its workers for organizing and raising concerns about how the company conducts its business.
CWA Hosts Game Developer and Video Game Advocacy Summit with IGDA
On October 30, CWA hosted a half-day virtual summit in collaboration with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) to feature key results from the most recent IGDA Game Developer Satisfaction Survey and to highlight the voices of video game workers and advocacy organizations across the video game industry.
The first panel, led by Western University Associate Professor Johanna Weststar and King’s College London Senior Lecturer Jamie Woodcock, was a discussion on the state of the industry amid a year of record layoffs and a growing trend of video game organizing.
“The current wave of [video game] unionization began in 2018. But what we’ve seen is a real spike in collective action from 2018 until now with the start of Game Workers Unite as an international movement for unionization,” said Woodcock. “What we’re seeing overall is a really interesting case study of what happens when workers decide that they want to unionize internationally and then decide what it means to unionize in a national context.”
Following their conversation, IGDA Executive Director Dr. Jakin Vela facilitated a roundtable panel on “Shaping a Sustainable Future for Game Developers,” where video game organizers and advocates shared their experiences building worker power and hope for the future.
“When you are functioning inside a structure that is so beyond your reach, you must do everything you can to affect your immediate surroundings,” said panelist and CWA Local 9510 member Em Geiger about organizing at the developer level. “It is entirely about community and talking to one another.”
A full livestream of the summit can be found here.
November 16, 1982 – The National Football League Players Association ends a 57-day strike that shortened the season to nine games.
November 22, 1909 – Over 20,000 women in shirtwaist factories went on strike in New York. It was the largest strike by women workers in American history to date, and ended the following February with union contracts bringing better pay and working conditions. It became known as the “Uprising of the 20,000.”
I'm Still Standing by Elton John
You know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
I'm still standing
CODE-CWA Newsletter: November 22, 2024
