Doom Studio id Software Forms 'Wall-To-Wall' Union (engadget.com)
(Friday December 12, 2025 @10:30PM (BeauHD)
from the unionize-like-it's-1993 dept.)
- Reference: 0180373005
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/12/2316202/doom-studio-id-software-forms-wall-to-wall-union
- Source link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/doom-studio-id-software-forms-wall-to-wall-union-with-a-majority-of-employees-voting-in-favor-164808829.html
id Software employees [1]voted to form a wall-to-wall union with the CWA , covering all roles at the Doom studio. "The vote wasn't unanimous, though a majority did vote in favor of the union," notes Engadget. From the report:
> The union will work in conjunction with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which is the same organization involved with parent company ZeniMax's recent unionization efforts. Microsoft, who owns ZeniMax, has already recognized this new effort, according to a [2]statement by the CWA. It agreed to a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA and ZeniMax workers last year, paving the way for this sort of thing.
>
> From the onset, this union will look to protect remote work for id Software employees. "Remote work isn't a perk. It's a necessity for our health, our families, and our access needs. RTO policies should not be handed down from executives with no consideration for accessibility or our well-being," said id Software Lead Services Programmer Chris Hays. He also said he looks forward to getting worker protections regarding the "responsible use of AI."
[1] https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/doom-studio-id-software-forms-wall-to-wall-union-with-a-majority-of-employees-voting-in-favor-164808829.html
[2] https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/video-game-developers-texas-vote-form-latest-wall-wall-union-cwa
> The union will work in conjunction with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which is the same organization involved with parent company ZeniMax's recent unionization efforts. Microsoft, who owns ZeniMax, has already recognized this new effort, according to a [2]statement by the CWA. It agreed to a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA and ZeniMax workers last year, paving the way for this sort of thing.
>
> From the onset, this union will look to protect remote work for id Software employees. "Remote work isn't a perk. It's a necessity for our health, our families, and our access needs. RTO policies should not be handed down from executives with no consideration for accessibility or our well-being," said id Software Lead Services Programmer Chris Hays. He also said he looks forward to getting worker protections regarding the "responsible use of AI."
[1] https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/doom-studio-id-software-forms-wall-to-wall-union-with-a-majority-of-employees-voting-in-favor-164808829.html
[2] https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/video-game-developers-texas-vote-form-latest-wall-wall-union-cwa
CWA is not a very strong union (Score:2)
by damn_registrars ( 1103043 )
I was a CWA member throughout grad school. It may be that they just put a lot more effort into the larger companies where their members were employed (think Verizon as one great example) but we didn't see much help from them as grad students. I remember one meeting my first year where we were reminded we could always ask for a union rep anytime we were talking with our PI, and that was about it.
Still going? (Score:2)
I didn't know id Software was still a thing, especially after John Carmack left. What are they even doing now?
Re: (Score:3)
They just released Doom: The Dark Ages this year.
Re: (Score:1)
I guess, tell me you've never worked in a union ship without telling me you've never worked in a union shop?
Unions did a lot of good at one time for low skilled work. They gave us the 40 hour work week and weekends. But mid/high-skilled union shops quickly turn to shit. The quality goes out the window and there's no merit incentive for very merit based jobs.
Not all unions are equal. Most are no longer a positive change.
Re: (Score:2)
It depends whether they're needed or not. The software industry definitely needs unions to protect workers, and I'm saying that as a someone who generally dislikes unions, the country I'm in was seriously crippled for many years by too-powerful unions who were more interested in turf wars than helping the workers. OTOH having seen how badly wage-slaves are treated in the US compared to all those evil non-uhmerrican socialist countries I'd actually support unions there despite not liking them much.