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Bethesda US studios have unionised

Bethesda US studios have unionised

The US arm of Fallout and Starfield maker Bethesda has successfully unionised. 

The bargaining unit is made up of 241 members of staff, including workers in art, enginerring, programming and design, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union's Code arm. Microsoft has recognised the bargaining unit, per its labour neutrality agreement with the CWA.  

The Bethesda union includes the company's Austin, Dallas and Rockville developers. 

This news comes hot on the heels of Bethesda's Montreal studio announcing that it intended to unionise. 

“We are so excited to announce our union at Bethesda Game Studio and join the movement sweeping across the video game industry," senior system designer and CWA member Mandi Parker said. 

"It is clear that every worker can benefit from bringing democracy into the workplace and securing a protected voice on the job. We’re thrilled to get down to brass tacks and win a fair contract, proving that our unity is a source of real power to positively shape our working conditions, our lives, and the company as a whole." 

The president of the CWA's 2108 Mayland branch, Johnny Brown, added: "In a groundbreaking achievement, the dedicated professionals at Bethesda Game Studios have demonstrated that, no matter your job title, you too can benefit from having a union. Through securing a protected voice on the job, workers are taking a step forward to negotiating better working conditions, helping to raise standards across the industry. We are incredibly proud to welcome these workers into our union and are confident that together, we will secure a brighter future for all workers in the video game industry."  


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.