Heat’s On volunteers ready local homeowners in need for winter

September 25, 2026 by

Olivia Braund and Jacob Michel, third-year apprentices with Local 455, inspect the furnace of a disabled homeowner in St. Paul.

Members of St. Paul Steamfitters Pipefitters Local 455 teamed up with Minneapolis-based Local 539 and local union contractors Sept. 19 to provide no-cost heating repairs for low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners across the Twin Cities.

The annual day of service, known as Heat’s On, sent two-person crews to make minor furnace repairs, check for dangerous heat-related health conditions and replace smoke detectors for homeowners identified by two area nonprofit agencies, Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington County and CAP of Hennepin County.

At a home in St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood, third-year apprentices Olivia Braund of Stillwater and Jacob Michel of Carver, both members of Local 455, ran the furnace through a series of service tests. They checked the heat exchanger, tested the environment for natural gas leaks and ran a combustion analysis.

Michel also checked the gas pressure after hearing from the homeowner that a different technician had replaced a valve on the furnace earlier that week. Michel wasn’t surprised to discover the pressure was well below the recommended 3.5 inches of water column.

Volunteers gather for a recognition breakfast before making their service calls.

“They just slapped it in and called it good without adjusting the pressure,” Michel said of the other technicians. “That causes the flame to burn dirty, and it’s a really easy thing to do, too.”

Situations like that are what keep Braund, a Heat’s On volunteer for the last three years, coming back.

“It’s always interesting,” she laughed. “And it’s good just to know these homeowners are safe and ready for winter. They’re always super nice, too.”

Before union members picked up their call sheets for Heat’s On this year, they gathered for a 7 a.m. breakfast at St. Paul Local 455’s union hall, where several lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, thanked union members for volunteering their time and expertise.

Since its launch in 1986, Heat’s On volunteers have provided over $4 million in services and repairs to 8,606 households in the Twin Cities, logging nearly 40,000 hours of volunteer service.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Bargaining moves slowly for Macalester’s newly organized unions

September 25, 2026 by

Macalaster student workers held a union rally on campus in May 2025.

First, it was the undergraduates at Macalester who unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW). Then the non-faculty staff followed suit, unionizing with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE).

So why is Macalester dragging their feet on hammering out the needed contracts?

Undergraduate cafeteria workers get fed up

“It started with a group of cafeteria workers,” student Luca Schira explained. “That was the place with the most issues for student employees. It was unsafe, and students weren’t trained on most things. And then the demand (for unionization) quickly spread to all the student workers.”

After connecting with students from as far as Oregon and as close as the U of M graduate students, the Macalester students decided to unionize with the United Auto Workers (UAW). They formed Macalester Undergraduate Workers Union (MUWU), the first union of undergraduate workers in Minnesota.

“UAW had the reputation for being a progressive, fighting union, and they had a high-profile strike at the time,” student Xavier Honer said. “Also, we looked at Grinnell as a model: A small liberal arts college that also started as cafeteria workers and branched out.”

The hard part

The successful vote to unionize the student workers took place Feb. 25 and 26. After the initial relief and celebration came the hard part: Negotiating a contract.

Said Honer: “It started slowly, and the ICE invasion forced us to cancel one or two of our meetings. The bargaining sessions were scheduled for every other week. Beyond scheduling, there is a lot of resistance. We joke that their favorite phrase is ‘the employer is not interested in hearing this proposal,’ and they would only put into writing that they would follow the current law, basically doing the bare minimum already required of them.”

In the meantime, MAPE at Mac was born, representing non-faculty, non-supervisory staff. They also began negotiating with the college administration over benefit and wage disputes.

How a storied liberal arts college responds

The ball was in Macalester’s court. This is Macalester, the storied liberal arts college, whose mission reads: “Macalester is committed to being a preeminent liberal arts college with an educational program known for its high standards for scholarship and its special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society.”

Macalester’s response? They hired Felhaber Larson, which has a reputation for advising corporate clients on how to fight unionization. They have provided counsel with companies like Starbucks, for example, and are often viewed as legal defenders of anti-union policies.

Next steps

Now that summer is over, there is a break in the action as school gets rolling into the fall semester. The negotiations are expected to begin again in earnest. What will happen next?

“We need people in the community aware of what’s going on and how slow Macalester is making the bargaining process,” Honer said. “Joining our mailing list to keep up with our events and bargaining updates is the best place to start.

“We always appreciate anybody showing up to our events whether they’re students, alumni, or just community members wanting to support us.”

Show your solidarity

Find links to support student workers and their union at region4.uaw.org/local5105.

– Joel Haskard, Special to The Union Advocate

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , ,

Best of the Midwest: Local roofers sweep regional apprenticeship competition

September 25, 2026 by

Apprentices compete in “Best of the Midwest” at Roofers Local 96’s training center.

Roofers Local 96 hosted the “Best of the Midwest” regional apprenticeship competition at its training center in Ham Lake this year, and the local union’s apprentices made good use of the home-site advantage.

Local 96 members placed first in all three divisions of the Aug. 22 competition, and seven Local 96 apprentices finished in the top four among competitors in their group.

First-place finishers in each division – Local 96’s Connor Engholm in Year 1, Ethan Block in Year 2 and Luke Selander in Year 3/4 – will advance to the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers’ national apprenticeship contest in Boston next May.

Other Local 96 award placewinners included:

  • Montana Scepaniak-Eisenschenk, third place in Year 1.
  • Jordan Angove, second place in Year 2.
  • Dawn Plaisted, second place in Year 3/4.
  • Evan Bloom, fourth place in Year 3/4.

For Local 96, it was the union’s first time hosting “Best of the Midwest,” although the Ham Lake facility did host the national apprenticeship competition last year.

The Midwest region includes 17 local unions, and 10 participated in this year’s competition. Local 96’s training facility, which opened in 2019, left an impression on staff from visiting unions.

“When I walked in, I was astonished,” Joshua Cavazos, business representative for Indiana-based Roofers Local 26, said. “It’s big, it’s immaculate. This is way more than any Roofers union could ask for.”

Third-year apprentice Dawn Plaisted of Roofers Local 96 is one of three women who competed in the Year 3/4 division of the regional competition.

Cavazos and other local leaders from the Midwest region gathered with competitors and their families for dinner in the training center the night before the competition. For many in the room, the camaraderie was what they looked forward to most about the annual event.

“The most important thing is the brotherhood – all the locals getting together for the greater good of the industry,” Local 20 organizer Pedro Parra, based in Kansas City, said. “It’s what sets us apart as a union – most roofers don’t get any of the training and support that we get as union members. That’s why it’s so important for these guys to come in and show off their skills.”

Parra might call it a brotherhood, but the number of female apprentices competing in “Best of the Midwest” has increased steadily in recent years.

Year 3/4 competitors included three women this year, with Local 96’s Plaisted among them. Plaisted took second in the region this year after advancing to the national competition last year – and winning it.

“Meeting all the new contestants, that’s really what I look forward to,” Plaisted said. “You always hope to win, but it’s just fun to see how you stack up.”

– Michael Moore, UA editor

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Kera Peterson: On this Labor Day, let’s commit to stopping the billionaire takeover

September 4, 2026 by

Kera Peterson, shown speaking at the 2026 AFL-CIO Convention, is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation. (Photo courtesy Jay Mallin)

You might think of Labor Day as the unofficial end of summer or the last day before school starts. Maybe it’s just a welcome three-day weekend. But in the labor movement, Labor Day is a celebration of the power that we, as workers, have when we join together in unions – the power of solidarity. When working people come together and fight for each other, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. We can stand up to the wealthiest CEOs and the most powerful politicians. We can topple corporate greed and rewrite the rules.

Of course, Labor Day also brings us closer to Election Day, and our unions are already working hard, both here in Minnesota and across the country, to power a campaign that takes back our country for working people. We’re mobilizing to elect pro-worker candidates who will be on our side, not for the elites.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen what a billionaire-first government looks like ever since President Trump and his allies in Congress took power last year. Their “big, beautiful bill” gave record tax cuts to billionaires and corporations – paid for with cuts to healthcare, food assistance and other services that working families rely on. Before the bill passed, unions joined a chorus of voices warning that the measure would leave more Americans uninsured, increase costs for local providers and raise premiums for the rest of us. Now it’s happening, making it harder than ever for working families just to make ends meet.

Healthcare isn’t the only thing more expensive in Trump’s economy. From gas and groceries to rent, families’ costs are skyrocketing. Too many of us feel like we’re falling behind or just barely getting by, whether we’re working longer and harder than ever for less in return or attempting to retire. Too many working people are living on the edge, stressing over every bill, every purchase, every paycheck.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And it shouldn’t. Working people built this country, yet every day we seem to matter less to the wealthy elites in power.

It’s past time that elected officials, from the Capitol in Washington to our city halls, prioritize working people by creating good jobs with better pay and affordable health care, and by protecting the programs we all depend on like Social Security and Medicare. We also need leaders who will fight to remove barriers workers face when they try to organize a union and bargain a first contract. More than 70% of Americans and nearly 9 in 10 people younger than 30 support unions, and polls show that millions of workers would join a union tomorrow if they could. Yet less than 12% of the workforce enjoys union representation on the job.

So on this Labor Day weekend, let’s take a moment to celebrate our solidarity, and then let’s recommit ourselves to fighting for worker power. Because the stakes have never been higher. Our labor movement is ready to fight for an economy, a government and a country for the people, not the billionaires. We’ll knock on doors, we’ll make phone calls and send texts, we’ll rally and we’ll fight to elect the candidates who share our vision for the future. We’ll share volunteer events on our website and social media. We hope you’ll help us win for working people on Election Day!

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Her column appeared in the September 2026 issue of The Saint Paul Union Advocate, which is the SPRLF’s official publication.

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Kate Perushek: Labor Department aims to increase awareness of rights, responsibilities

September 3, 2026 by

Kate Perushek is commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

As we celebrate Labor Day, I am honored to begin a new role as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). For seven years, I have served at DLI, and this new role is a continuation of the same commitment that has guided me throughout my career: protecting worker rights, strengthening worker safety and ensuring that Minnesotans can live and work in environments that are equitable, healthy and safe.

My commitment to workers was shaped early in my career, long before I came to DLI. Working as a Spanish interpreter in a public middle school, I learned how much trust matters – how important it is to communicate clearly, listen carefully and make sure that people understand their rights and receive excellent service. Those lessons stayed with me and guide how I think about public service today.

Over the past seven years at DLI, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Minnesota’s labor community in several roles, including deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and director of legislative affairs. Before joining DLI, I worked in leadership positions at the Legislature, including serving as legislative director to the Speaker of the House, where I helped pass the minimum-wage increase and the Women’s Economic Security Act.

In each of those positions, one thing has remained constant: this work is about the people. It is about the worker who deserves a safe job site, the parent who needs time to care for a sick child, the family that depends on a fair wage, and the employee who wants to do right by the people they employ.

Gov. Tim Walz understands that. Under his leadership, Minnesota has made historic progress for workers, passing the largest set of workplace protections enacted in a generation. These provisions have strengthened working families, expanded worker knowledge and given Minnesotans a greater voice on the job. Minnesotans now have earned sick and safe time, Paid Leave and increased minimum wages – by more than 20% – to better provide for themselves and their families.

Workers in meat and poultry have stronger protections. Construction workers have greater wage protections. The progress under Gov. Walz reflects a simple but powerful belief: when workers are protected, Minnesota is stronger.

But laws alone don’t change lives. People must know what those rights mean, how to use them and where to turn when they need help. That’s why our DLI staff members have focused so deeply on education and outreach. We know that when workers understand their rights, workplaces become safer, families become stronger and communities become more stable.

From Sept. 13-19, DLI will host its third annual Workplace Rights Week to educate Minnesotans about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. We invite employees and employers alike to learn more and take part in scheduled events at dli.mn.gov/rights-week.

I am proud to lead an agency and team that works together to serve Minnesotans with fairness, safety and opportunity. As we celebrate Labor Day, I look ahead with confidence and purpose, committed to helping make Minnesota the best place to live, work and raise a family.

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Dreaming big on Labor Day: What if union membership tripled nationwide?

September 2, 2026 by

Baristas at Starbucks have organized at over 700 locations nationwide, including in St. Anthony.

About 15 million American workers are union members, but polling shows that some 50 million more would join a union today if they could.

What if that happened?

That’s the question researchers at the Economic Policy Institute sought to answer in a first-of-its-kind report, “The Case for Tripling Union Membership,” published in July.

Tripling union membership, from roughly 10% of the workforce to 30%, would restore union density to levels not seen since the 1950s, when union power delivered rising wages for working people, helped narrow racial wage gaps and built a thriving middle class.

In their new report, EPI researchers argue that similar benefits are possible today: higher wages across the board, lower inequality, stronger communities and a healthier democracy. The report also shares a policy roadmap to boost union membership and expand the benefits of collective bargaining.

“Tripling union membership is not a nostalgic pipe dream,” EPI President Heidi Shierholz said. “It is exactly what workers want, and federal and state policymakers have a clear roadmap to make it happen.

“Collective bargaining is the most effective tool for workers to raise their wages and secure a fair share of economic growth. If policymakers are serious about tackling affordability problems, expanding union membership and collective bargaining should be at the center of their agenda.”

The report estimates that tripling union membership would:

  • Deliver a 14.5% raise for the median worker, amounting to more than $7,700 annually – or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career. Increases would apply union and nonunion workers alike.
  • Shift $1.2 trillion to workers annually. This would reverse one-third of the increase in inequality experienced since 1979.
  • Raise worker earnings in every state, including by an estimated $6,500 annually in Minnesota and $9,200 in Wisconsin.
  • Significantly narrow racial wage gaps. Because unions tend to boost wages more for Black and Hispanic workers than for white workers, tripling union membership would close racial wage gaps by more than one-third.
  • Increase the number of people covered by health insurance. Greater collective bargaining power would reduce the number of nonelderly people going without health insurance by about 25%.
  • Strengthen communities. States with high union density invest more in public education, have higher unemployment insurance recipiency rates and have all adopted Medicaid expansion.
  • Protect democracy. Unions boost voter turnout, equip workers with civic skills and actively defend voting rights. States with high union density have passed far fewer voter restriction bills than low-density states.

Of course, tripling union membership won’t actually happen overnight. Organizing is deliberate work that requires the investment of energy and resources – a commitment the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, made at its constitutional convention in June, pledging to organize 2 million new members over the next five years.

Unions have also pushed policymakers to modernize federal labor law and even the playing field in workplace organizing drives.

The report unveils two new policy proposals designed to grow collective bargaining and union density – proposals that, authors say, are “built to work alongside” organized labor’s top policy priorities, the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.

One proposal would guarantee annual raises for newly unionized workers. A mandatory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would provide a meaningful guardrail for workers whose first contract bargaining ends up in arbitration – and undercut the employer’s ability to drag out the process.

The other ambitious proposal: require collective bargaining as the default option when CEO-to-worker pay ratios exceed 100-to-1. “Declining unionization and the stratospheric rise in CEO pay are deeply connected,” EPI’s researchers said. “Strengthening the bargaining power of workers in severely imbalanced companies would enable them to capture a larger share of the wealth their work creates.”

The report also calls on states to repeal so-called “right-to-work” laws and ensure collective bargaining rights for all public-sector workers, which alone would increase union density nationally from 9.9% to 14.4%.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , ,

‘Shared passion for community’ drives union campaign at Twin Cities climbing gyms

August 28, 2026 by

Bouldering Project workers formed a union with Workers United, an SEIU affiliate.

After a meeting with the CEO left more questions than answers, workers at two Bouldering Project gyms in the Twin Cities moved quickly to organize a union.

Workers voted to 79-7 to form a bargaining unit with Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees (SEIU), in a landslide election Aug. 6 overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

The new unit brings together 117 workers at the St. Paul and Minneapolis climbing gyms, from climbing supervisors and youth programming staff to front-desk and maintenance workers.

The climbing industry has expanded steadily over the past decade, and with projections to continue growing, the industry is attracting outside investment, including from private equity.

Climbing workers, in turn, have been forming unions to protect their voice as the industry changes. Vertical Endeavors workers in the Twin Cities unionized in 2023 with the United Food and Commercial Workers. Bouldering Project gyms in Brooklyn and Boston saw successful union drives over the last year, and Workers United represents staff at over 30 climbing gyms nationwide.

The organizing bug reached Bouldering Project’s Twin Cities gym via an unlikely source: a gym member who traveled to Brooklyn and, by coincidence, met Bouldering Project workers there who had recently unionized. The member connected the Brooklyn worker with a Minneapolis worker after returning home.

From there, the campaign took shape, tapping into a growing sense that the culture at Bouldering Project was changing, according to Arrow Shipp, a supervisor in the St. Paul gym entering their fourth year on the Bouldering Project staff. Shipp said some workers trace the shift to a round of private-equity investment after the COVID pandemic.

“Part of the reason people want to be at the Minneapolis Bouldering Project is the community they’ve built – the vibes, the inclusivity, being local at the core,” Shipp said. “I think a lot of people were feeling like we’re pushing promos for new members more than we are building community with current members. We’re losing those core values that the company claims, and I think people were getting tired of the energy.”

Soon after organizing began, Bouldering Project CEO Trever Ackerman announced plans to hold town-hall meetings with workers across the U.S. When Ackerman came to the Twin Cities, workers – some involved in the not-yet-public union drive and some not – were ready with direct questions, expecting a give-and-take dialogue, Shipp said.

That wasn’t what they got.

“It felt very performative,” Shipp said. “We asked Trever questions directly, and he kind of danced around the answers.”

Ackerman asked for more time to process workers’ concerns and pledged to respond. That response came June 1 with a letter announcing wage rates would increase by 1% to 5% for nine Twin Cities positions, including six non-management roles.

But Front-desk workers like Shipp were excluded from the raises. Some workers Shipp talked to reported seeing raises of 13 to 25 cents per hour.

“Those raises felt kind of like a slap in the face,” Shipp said. “They weren’t hearing us; they were trying to appease us.”

Now that they’ve unionized, Twin Cities workers will look to address their issues with a seat at the bargaining table.

Priorities for a first contract, according to the union, will likely include job security and pay. The wages of some full-time workers are low enough that they could qualify for public assistance.

Shipp, 27, said the organizing process has deepened connections between co-workers, many of whom have never been members of a union before.

“We learned that we have a shared passion for community and the fight for workers’ rights,” Shipp said. “Spending time talking about that and getting together to work toward this common goal was really incredible.

“Sometimes society feels like it’s in a really tough spot right now. It’s so cool to have people come together and support each other.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Gap between CEO, worker pay continues to widen, report shows

August 28, 2026 by

The nation’s top executives gave themselves far bigger raises than the average worker saw last year.

The AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report, released earlier this month, found that the pay gap between CEOs and the rest of us widened in 2025, with companies on the S&P 500 paying their chief executives 312 times more than the median U.S. worker, a 21% increase over 2024.

The nation’s largest labor federation analyzes compensation data each year to produce the report.

While the nationwide ratio for CEO-to-worker pay last year was 312-to-1, the ratio was even greater at six Minnesota-based, publicly traded firms:

  • Life Time Group Holdings: 1,814- to-1 (CEO earned $15.2 million)
  • Target: 794-to-1 ($21.8 million)
  • UnitedHealth Group: 748-to-1 ($60.9 million)
  • Best Buy: 542-to-1 ($16.1 million)
  • Ecolab: 326-to-1 ($17.4 million)
  • 3M: 316-to-1 ($21 million)

This year, researchers chose to exclude one CEO – Elon Musk – from their calculations. Musk’s $158.3 billion pay package, which made him the world’s first trillionaire, would have skewed the data, they said.

Still, with an average pay of $22.8 million last year, other CEOs on the S&P 500 enjoyed their highest level of compensation in the three decades that the AFL-CIO has been producing the report.

That marks “a new, shameful high,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said at press conference to unveil the findings.

Redmond also noted that President Donald Trump has raked in $2.2 billion in income – much of it from crypto deals that cash in on his influence – since returning to the White House last year.

“Meanwhile, working Americans are struggling to feed their kids and pay their electric bills,” Redmond said.

Indeed, workers’ share of U.S. national income has fallen to its lowest level since World War II, per to the report.

Recent surveys show workers are increasingly concerned about affordability and economic uncertainty: 16% of U.S. adults cannot pay all their bills in full, 26% have skipped medical care due to cost and 37% do not have enough cash to cover a $400 emergency expense.

The AFL-CIO’s report takes aim at several companies on the S&P 500 where CEO pay continues to soar as an outsized share of their employees rely on public assistance, like Medicaid and SNAP, to make ends meet, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, FedEx, McDonald’s and Walmart.

Last summer, as part of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Trump and Republican majorities slashed federal support programs to pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans – a sign of misplaced priorities in Washington, Redmond said.

“There’s a better economy we can build for working people,” he added. “That’s why the labor movement will continue to fight for every worker to have a union contract that begins to level the playing field and ensures they take home the share of the profit they create.”

Find the report online at paywatch.org.

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AFT calls on educators, families to avoid Target during back-to-school season

August 27, 2026 by

As back-to-school shopping season ramps up, the American Federation of Teachers is urging educators and families nationwide to stock up on supplies someplace other than Target.

The union’s “Shop Smart, Support Working Families” campaign is a response to Target’s refusal to condemn the unlawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity that continues to roil communities around the country – a position the union called “starkly accommodationist.”

The nation’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO, endorsed the boycott in June at its constitutional convention in Minneapolis.

AFT encourages supporters to find alternate retailers that respect labor rights at ShopSmart.AFT.org.

Additionally, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 maintains a list of union retailers in the East Metro at ufcw1189.org/shop-union.

The AFT, with 1.875 million members nationwide, rolled out its boycott this month after the union’s attempts at dialogue with Target leadership “did not receive a constructive response.”

Educators spend an average of $895 of their own money on school supplies each year, and union pension funds hold billions in Target stock.

In March, the union passed a resolution demanding the Minneapolis-based business speak up against the ICE atrocities in its own backyard. AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote to Target CEO Michael Fiddelke in January and again in March.

“We gave Target ample time to stand with the communities in which they operate and help their neighbors, but its silence about federal immigration abuses has been deafening,” Weingarten said. “We wrote letters, passed resolutions and reached out to management in good faith but have yet to see any meaningful movement.”

Twin Cities union leaders praised AFT for holding Target accountable.

“We’re disappointed that Target has failed to live up to its promises to be a good neighbor to the families who have shopped there for years,” Natasha Dockter, a vice president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said. “In this scary time, we all need to come together, from the classrooms to the corner offices, to protect Americans’ right to free speech and to ensure our democracy endures.”

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Bloomington video game workers ‘fighting tooth and nail’ with Microsoft for first contract

August 27, 2026 by

Activision workers march from their office in Bloomington to demonstrate along Old Shakopee Road during the “Save Our Devs” national day of action.

BLOOMINGTON – Video game workers rallied Aug. 18 for a fair first contract with their Microsoft-owned publishing firm, while also standing in solidarity with workers across the country fighting layoffs and corporate greed in Microsoft’s gaming studios.

Members of Activision Quality Assurance United, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), held “Save Our Devs” rallies at Activision worksites in Minnesota, Texas and California.

Union members called for a nationwide day of action after Microsoft announced in July that it would shutter some gaming studios and lay off over 3,200 workers in its XBOX division, which includes Activision. The first round of layoffs, scheduled this month, will impact 1,600 XBOX workers, including hundreds of union members.

So far, the layoffs have spared Activision Quality Assurance United members, but union steward Andrew Snell said the union wanted to join workers and gamers across the country voicing their anger over the unilateral path Microsoft has laid out for XBOX.

“It’s good for us to have a good relationship with our developers in order to have a quality game that goes out,” Snell said, adding that labor law requires the company to engage workers’ union in bargaining over discretionary layoffs.

Quality assurance workers also want to keep the pressure on Microsoft to settle a first contract with their bargaining unit, which brings together about 450 workers across the three facilities, including roughly 300 members of CWA Local 7250 in Bloomington.

The unit won recognition of their union in March 2024 and opened negotiations with Microsoft five months later. The “Save Our Devs” rally came as those talks were poised to enter a third year.

Snell, a quality assurance specialist with six years of experience at Activision, said progress toward a contract has been steady, with the two sides meeting three days per month.

Outstanding issues include wages and job security. Union members also want to secure workplace accommodations for those who need them, pointing to a lack of transparency and consistency in Activision’s office policies.

“I’ll go to my manager with a question about a particular policy, and they’ll come back with something,” Snell said. “Then I’ll go ask two or three other managers for someone else, and they’ll all have different answers. So it kind of depends on which manager you ask until you go and ask somebody higher up. It would be helpful if people were all on the same page.”

A union contract would accomplish just that, and nearly 50 union members joined the rally in Bloomington to let Microsoft know they are running out of patience with the bargaining process.

“We’re all kind of feeling that pinch,” Snell said. “It’s taken two years. It’s taken a really long time. We’re fighting tooth and nail just to get this contract done, but we’re getting closer.”

Learn more about forming a union in the video game industry at uvw-cwa.org.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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