Magic: The Gathering Arena (MTG Arena) developers who are attempting to unionize as United Wizards of the Coast—CWA (UWOTC—CWA) claim Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have declined to voluntarily recognize the union.
UWOTC—CWA asked leadership at Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro to voluntarily recognize the union by May 1, 2026. That deadline has now passed, and union workers claim their request was met with silence.
“In our letter to management this past Monday, we called on Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro to take the high road and voluntarily recognize our union by Friday, May 1st. That deadline has now come and gone, with no direct response from the company,” reads a union statement. “Management claims to be committed to ensuring every person is heard, valued, and supported. However, when we spoke up about our desire to unionize, they responded only to the press.”
Last week, a Wizards of the Coast spokesperson told Kotaku the company was carefully reviewing the union’s request.
“Our employees are the lifeblood of what makes us great, and we are committed to fostering a workplace where every person feels heard, valued, and supported,” they said.
“We believe we have a strong connection with everyone at Wizards of the Coast and that direct relationship with our employees is essential to how we work together to capture the imagination of our fans and players, inspiring a lifetime love of our games. We appreciate hearing about the needs and interests of our employees through this filing, and will respond through the appropriate process.”
UWOTC—CWA previously filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board to push for recognition in the event Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro failed to meet their demands. The group said it is attempting to unionize to “increase staff wellbeing” by pushing for generative AI guardrails and layoff protections.
More than 30,000 people have signed a public petition calling on Wizards of the Coast to recognize UWOTC—CWA. Union members are now urging fans to “keep up the pressure” on their employer.
“We still maintain that the success of our union is inevitable. The company has witnessed the tremendous outpouring of support and positive attention that our campaign has received from the public and the press,” added UWOTC—CWA.
“They have received our voluntary recognition letter with the names of a super-majority of the Arena team. We are confident that we are going to win recognition of this union; it’s only a question of time. We look forward now towards the NLRB election, which we expect to be held within the coming weeks.”
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