Bethesda accused of treating staff as “second-class citizens” in union complaint

Bethesda Game Studios has been accused of treating workers in Canada as “second-class citizens” in an unfair labor practice complaint filed against the company.

CWA Canada, a union representing 6,000 workers in tech as well as digital and print media, confirmed the filing on March 18. Citing the reasons for the filing on behalf of the workers it represents, the company said:

“Unfortunately, as CWA Canada alleges in its formal complaints, Microsoft-BGS has made the choice to approach bargaining in bad faith, putting arbitrary limits on who can represent the union at the bargaining table, and making the process unnecessarily difficult.”

Bethesda Game Studios was officially acquired by Microsoft in 2021 in a deal valued at $7.5 billion.

Further, the CWA alleged that “Microsoft-BGS is also refusing to release information about employee bonus pay and details on the company’s Pay Equity Plan, amongst other things.”

“The union has a legal right to this information for bargaining,” it continued.

Part of the complaint accused Bethesda of treating workers in Canada differently than those based in the US. “They have not put limits on CWA bargaining and have been forthcoming with information for U.S.-based employees. The two sides have met a number of times and have already reached tentative agreements, while the same U.S.-based management personnel are treating their Canada-based employees differently.”

Union members were cited by CWA Canada as claiming Bethesda’s lack of collaboration was “insulting”, while CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth accused the developer of “choosing to treat Canada-based employees like second-class citizens.”

Under the Canada Industrial Relations Board, unfair labor practices are defined as “Acts that interfere with a union’s right or ability to represent its members or an employee’s right to make up their own mind about whether to support a union. Unfair labour practices also include acts by unions that interfere with an employer’s right to operate its business.”

Dexerto has contacted Bethesda for comment.