ZeniMax Workers United, a union representing over 300 quality assurance workers in both Maryland and Texas, have voted to authorize a strike against the company.
In an announcement on Tuesday, it was revealed that nearly 95% of votes were in favor of authorization.
UPDATE: A Microsoft spokesperson has provided the following statement to Insider Gaming regarding the strike authorization vote:
“Our quality assurance team is an integral part of our business and is key to our ability to deliver games our players will love. 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.”
According to the press release announcing the authorization, members of the union say that the decision comes as negotiations between Microsoft, ZeniMax, and the union fail to make any meaningful progress into its second year. Specifically, return to office mandates along with “underpayment” are causing friction between the groups.
“Underpayment and costly RTO 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,” ZeniMax Workers United-CWA Local 6215 Member and Senior QA Tester Zachary Armstrong said via release.
“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.”
Union member and Associate QA Tester Aubrey Litchfield added: “Our in-house contractors have been working on minimal wages with no benefits, including no paid sick time. 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?”
It’s important to note that the union isn’t officially going on strike. What the authorization vote means is that should negotiations continue to move forward without progress, the union can call a strike without another vote.
Insider Gaming has reached out to Microsoft and ZeniMax for comment on the negotiations. Should a response be received, it will be added to this story.
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