ZeniMax workers union votes to authorize a strike against Microsoft over stalled contract negotiations

The ZeniMax Workers United-CWA union has voted "overwhelmingly" to authorize union leadership to call for a strike if contract negotiations with Microsoft continue to drag on without resolution.

ZeniMax Workers United, a part of the Communications Workers of America, was formed in January 2023 and was at the time the largest videogame union in the US. Negotiations for a first contract began shortly thereafter but nearly two years later, limited headway has been made. The union's chief concerns include better wages, "workplace improvements," accommodations for remote work, "and the company’s replacement of in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union."

The CWA filed an unfair labor practices charge against Microsoft over that outsourced QA work and hundreds of union members staged a one-day walkout in November 2024 to protest the lack of progress in contract negotiations, but now it sounds like the union is prepared to ratchet things up, as more than 94% of union members voted to authorize the call for a strike.

"Underpayment and costly RTO [return to office] initiatives have caused many of us to put our lives on pause because our income does not match even the rising cost of living in the cities where ZeniMax insists we live and work to maintain employment," said ZeniMax Workers United-CWA Local 6215 member Zachary Armstrong, a senior QA tester.

"None of us wishes it had come to this, but if Microsoft and ZeniMax continue to demonstrate at the bargaining table that they’re unwilling to pay us fair wages for the value our labor provides to our games, we’ll be showing them just how valuable our labor is."

"Our in-house contractors have been working on minimal wages with no benefits, including no paid sick time," union member and associate QA tester Aubrey Litchfield said. "Workers are choosing not to start families because of the uncertainty of finances. We’ve released multiple titles while working fully remote. When will enough be enough?"

Despite the vote to authorize a strike, the union said on Bluesky that it is currently not calling for a boycott of ZeniMax's Elder Scrolls Online MMO.

While ZeniMax Workers United-CWA clearly doesn't think that contract negotiations are making sufficient headway, Microsoft, perhaps unsurprisingly, feels differently, saying in a statement provided to PC Gamer that "substantial progress" has been made.

"Our quality assurance team is an integral part of our business and is key to our ability to deliver games our players will love," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "We respect the team's right to express their viewpoints and are deeply committed to reaching a fair and equitable resolution that acknowledges the teams' contributions. There has been substantial progress over the course of the negotiations, reaching tentative agreements on a majority of the topics at the table.

"We have presented a package proposal that we believe is fair—if accepted it would result in immediate compensation increases, even more robust benefits and is in alignment to the company’s hybrid model of 3 days in office. We look forward to continuing this progress during negotiations."

The vote to authorize a strike does not mean that a strike is inevitable or imminent, only that union leadership has the green light to call for one. A CWA representative clarified that it is ultimately up to the workers to decide when and under what conditions to actually launch a strike, and also to determine the length of the action—whether it's another one-day walkout or an ongoing strike, for instance—and the conditions for ending it.

Should it happen, a Zenimax strike would mark the second active strike in the games industry. SAG-AFTRA voice actors have been on strike for eight months, calling for protections for its members against the growing use of AI in videogames.