If games companies thought that they could stave off worker organization attempts with union busting, they haven’t met 2022: Apparently, now a portion of BioWare is taking its first steps toward unionization.
As documented on Reddit, workers representing “all employees employed in development support at the BioWare office in Edmonton” nominated UFCW Canada as its bargaining agent and gave notice to BioWare and EA. The workers are employed with Keywords Studios, which does support work (QA, art, localization) for EA, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and more; Polygon notes that the studio also did QA work for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. However, it’s the BioWare staffers, who apparently actually work inside BioWare core studio in Edmonton, taking these unionization steps.
Per the document, if the Labor Relations Board in Edmonton approves the application, the process moves on to voting.
EA has yet to issue any response to media on the proceedings.
UFCW Local 401 Labour Board Union Application for Keywords Studios QA from alberta
