Magic: The Gathering Arena employees votes for union, a first for Wizards of the Coast

United Wizards of the Coast has announced that employees of the Magic: The Gathering Arena division have elected to form a union at Wizards of the Coast. Of 102 eligible voters, 79 voted for the union and 16 voted against.

The announcement brings a formal end to a multi-month process, which began when developers of the popular Magic: The Gathering app declared that they were forming a union over concerns about pay, return to office work, mandatory crunch time, and other workplace issues. The union will now negotiate with Wizards of the Coast towards a collective bargaining agreement.

Wizards, for their part, announced that they had accepted the results of the election. Their statement reads: "The Magic: The Gathering Arena team within Wizards of the Coast has voted to be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and we respect and support them in that decision. We now look ahead to working with the CWA in good faith and transparency as we enter the bargaining process. At Wizards, our commitment to building a culture where our people feel respected and valued and can continue to make incredible games and experiences for our players is unwavering."

Wizards was criticized at several points during the formation of the union, in particular for hiring an anti-union law firm to represent them, declining to voluntarily recognize the union, and deadnaming trans employees during the voting process.

While the new union only represents developers of Magic: The Gathering Arena, this marks the first union to form among Wizards employees.

 

[bedir than]

Recognizing the union post-vote isn't a nat 20 or perfect curve, but it's definitely a success in my mind.

 

[M.T. Black]

For those who understand the process - will there be any visibility to outsiders as to the sorts of things the union is able to achieve int he negotiations, or will all of that remain confidential?

 

[MGibster]

Recognizing the union post-vote isn't a nat 20 or perfect curve, but it's definitely a success in my mind.

WotC was legally obligated to recognize the union once the National Labor Relations Board certified the vote. WotC can't challenge the presumption of majority status for the union for at least a year. i.e. They can't come back in six months and say, "I don't think the union represents the majority of employees. Let's hold a vote."

For those who understand the process - will there be any visibility to outsiders as to the sorts of things the union is able to achieve int he negotiations, or will all of that remain confidential?

Whether union or not, all employees have a right to speak about working conditions, pay, discrimination, and other issues and your employer can't retaliate for that (not legally anyway). I imagine the union will release statements on behalf of their employees if they so desire and WotC will release statements on behalf of the company. If WotC and the union have a good working relationship, you'll likely see statements from both of them about coming to a mutually satisfactory agreement that's good for everyone including their customers.

 

[bedir than]

WotC was legally obligated to recognize the union once the National Labor Relations Board certified the vote.

Plenty of organizations fight the certification. There's a rather large coffee company also in the Seattle area that tried that.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

If WotC still held the Pinkertons card, they could have played it now to bust the union. I bet they regret wasting it on a youtuber.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

So wild to me to have such a small union.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

So wild to me to have such a small union.

Big enough.

An I have seen nothing in the process where wizards did something terrible. It is their good right to not accept it without a formal process and if they are oblieged to state persons by their legal name (no matter their stance) they have to.

Imagine they put out a list which does not list the legal name and later use that as a backdoor to annulate the whole process...

 

[MGibster]

Plenty of organizations fight the certification. There's a rather large coffee company also in the Seattle area that tried that.

The only way to fight certification is to challenge the vote which is something Starbucks has certainly done. I'm more concerned about the blatently illegal anti-union activities Starbucks engages in to prevent unions from forming and to punish them once they are formed. Starbucks has more than 16,000 locations within the United States and their business needs and relationship with employees is much different than WotC. WotC could challenge the certification vote, but it'd just be a waste of time and money.

 

[Seramus]

Whether union or not, all employees have a right to speak about working conditions, pay, discrimination, and other issues and your employer can't retaliate for that (not legally anyway).

Generally you can't talk about pay, etc during on duty, working hours unless you can prove non-work conversations are allowed. Which is a difficult fight almost no lawyer will take, since many companies have such a policy, but usually don't enforce it until it becomes a "problem."

But breaks, lunches, and anything off the clock is free game for pay, etc conversations - and legally protected, to boot!