Microsoft recently recognized its first official union as “a supermajority” of workers said that they wished to join one.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) recently talked about the Union on their website. Quality Assurance (QA) workers from ZeniMax Studios, a video game development company under Microsoft, said they wanted to join ZeniMax Workers United/CWA. ZeniMax Studios is the studio behind The Elder Scrolls Online, Doom, Quake Champions, and even Fallout. Around 300 QA workers expressed their desire to join the union. Victoria Banos, Senior QA Audio Tester at ZeniMax Online Studios, had this to say about the union:

Before us is an opportunity to make big changes and bring equity to the video game industry. We want to put an end to sudden periods of crunch, unfair pay, and lack of growth opportunities within the company. Our union will push for truly competitive pay, better communication between management and workers, a clear path for those that want to progress their career, and more.

Microsoft, in a move that perhaps surprised everyone, agreed to recognize it. Last June, Microsoft announced a change in its labor principles. They said that it would respect the employee's right to form a union. As such, when a third party confirmed that the QA workers wanted to join a union, Microsoft quickly acknowledged it. This will be Microsoft's first, and it is perhaps the biggest in any gaming company. CWA President Chris Shelton actually praised Microsoft for recognizing the union.

Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union. Other video game and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft is charting a different course which will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry and as a blueprint for regulators.

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Hopefully, this really will be a step in the right direction. Some people online have already started calling this a publicity stunt. This is in light of the upcoming FTC trial, which aims to block the Activison Blizzard deal. This deal is the biggest in gaming history, so a lot of eyes are on Microsoft. Hopefully, this isn't just a publicity stunt, and Microsoft really will change how game companies handle their employees.

That's all the information we have about Microsoft's first official union. To stay updated on gaming news, you can check out our gaming news articles.