Bethesda Game Studios Workers Win Labour Board Certification, Officially Join CWA Canada

In yet another landmark win for video game workers, staff at Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) Montreal have been granted union certification by the Quebec Labour Relations Board.

The certification was granted Aug. 13, nearly 7 weeks after the union filed with a strong majority of workers signing union cards with CWA Canada. 

They join their colleagues in Rockville, Maryland and Dallas and Austin, Texas, as union members within CWA. 

The Microsoft-owned studio is responsible for highly successful game franchises like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, and they now become the first game studio in the province of Quebec and first wall-to-wall studio in all of Canada to unionize. The Montreal workers in the new unit include developers, engineers, programmers, design and QA staff.

We are also thrilled that we reached an agreement with management for producers and most senior producers to be included in our bargaining units — a total of 36 employees across all four studios. All lead, design, and art titles will also now be included in Montreal, resulting in 23 additional employees joining the bargaining unit, increasing the bargaining unit to 119.

This victory would not have been possible without the work of the BGS volunteers, the World of Warcraft Gamemaker’s Guild-CWA, and the CWA and CWA Canada organizing and legal teams.

The union filed with the Quebec Labour Relations Board on June 26. Workers want a stronger voice at work (workplace democracy), layoff protections, better work-life balance, wage transparency, and other workplace improvements.

CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth welcomed the new members: “CWA Canada is proud to support the efforts and commitment of these brave workers who are improving the potential for generations of workers in the video gaming industry.”

CWA Canada is the country’s only all-media union, representing 6,000 workers at the CBC, The Canadian Press, APTN, and newspapers and other companies coast to coast.