Microsoft Signs ‘Historic Tentative Agreement’ With QA Devs At Bethesda
The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has announced that unionized QA developers at Bethesda owner ZeniMax have signed a “historic tentative contract agreement” with Microsoft, after “nearly two years” of negotiation.
The deal — which is still being finalised with it only being ‘tentative’ at this stage — “sets new standards for the industry and includes substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers”. Quality Assurance (QA) workers often have little job security, so this agreement feels particularly significant for this set of developers.
As part of the CWA’s press release, a couple of the Bethesda workers involved have shared some interesting comments on the agreement and what it means for them. Here’s what Jessee Leese, QA tester at ZeniMax, had to say on things:
“Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity. Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve […] Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We’re the ones who make these games, and we’ll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment.”
Page Branson, Senior II QA Tester, added this:
“QA workers from across the country continue to lead the charge for industry-wide change […] Going toe-to-toe with one of the largest corporations in the world isn’t a small feat. This is a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after.”
Last year, over 200 Bethesda devs working at some of the company’s US studios joined a “wall-to-wall union” to “set the new standard for our industry” – so clearly, lots of ZeniMax workers are continuing to fight for better rights working at Microsoft and Xbox.
