Wizards of the Coast has written to its employees to warn that unionizing could mean staff “end up with more, the same or less than [they] have now,” and suggested that “your voice is strongest when it is heard directly.”
As reported by Kotaku (thanks, GameDeveloper), a letter to all staff dated May 14, stressed that while unionizing was “a personal decision,” it suggested that “our future is stronger when we work together. We believe your voice is strongest when it is heard directly. Not through a third party.”
Staff are due to vote on unionization with the National Labor Relations Board on June 2.
“You and your colleagues will decide whether you want the CWA to represent you,” the letter allegedly sent from the studio to staff stated. “We know people may look at this issue differently. Some have shared that they prefer to maintain a direct working relationship with leadership, while others are still gather information or may feel the CWA could play a role. We respect this. What matters most is that every employee has the information they need to make an informed decision and participate in the vote.”
After writing that leadership was proud of the team and the work it did every day, the letter added what is believed explained “how union representation works.”
“If employees choose union representation, the CWA will serve as the employees’ representative in collective bargaining with the Company,” it said. “That process typically involved negotiating over wages, benefits, scheduling, and other terms and conditions of employment. Outcomes are not pre-determined and depend on negotiations between both parties.
“All the benefits and perks you currently enjoy would be on the bargaining table for both parties to negotiate, based on what’s important to them. That means you could end up with more, the same, or less than you have now. No union can guarantee what would happen in that bargaining process, which can be lengthy (465 days on average).
“If employees do not choose union representation, Wizards of the Coast would continue to work directly with employees on workplace matters, just as it does today, with a much greater degree of flexibility than a typically rigid union contract,” the letter added. It was signed by John Hight, current WotC president.
Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro missed the deadline to voluntarily recognize a union formed by Magic: The Gathering Arena developers with support from the Communication Workers of America. UWOTC-CWA requested that management recognise the union by May 1.
Psychonauts developer Double Fine Productions filed to unionize with support from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) earlier this month.
Several Microsoft subsidiaries have unionised since 2022. Raven Software became the first major video game union in the United States. Other unionized studios include Activision Quality Assurance United-CWA, OneBGS (Bethesda Game Studios), World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild, QA teams at Blizzard in Albany and Austin, Activision User Research Union-CWA, Overwatch Gamemakers Guild-CWA, and Diablo developers.
