The workers for Magic: The Gathering Arena team seeking to join a union have confirmed a date for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The employees who have named themselves the United Wizards of the Coast and are attempting to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) will vote on June 2, according to the NLRB case file. If the union wins 50 percent + 1 of the votes cast, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) will have to bargain in good faith with the members over working conditions.
The notice of election from the NLRB states that “this election is to determine the representative, if any, desired by the eligible employees for purposes of collective bargaining with their employer.” Notably, a majority of the valid ballots cast will determine the result of the election.
Employees who can vote in the CWA (UWOTC) election include all full-time and regular part-time employees employed by (MTGA) including animators, artists, game designers, product managers, software development engineers, software engineers, technology producers, and QA analysts working at, out of, or reporting to the employer’s Renton, Washington office who were employed during the payroll period ending April 30, 2026.
Employees will be able to vote in-person if they live within 30 miles of employer’s office located at 1107 Lake Washington Boulevard in Renton. Remote employees who live outside of that range will be able to vote by mail. The NLRB states that only one valid representation election may be held in a 12-month period.
The group of laborers who formed United Wizards of the Coast posted a letter to (WotC) on April 27 announcing it was forming a union in affiliation with the CWA. WotC acknowledged the NLRB filing two days later and eventually declined to voluntarily recognize the union by May 1 — the date CWA (UWOTC) set that it would wait before filing for an NLRB election.
Not only did WotC not recognize the union by May 1, but it acquired Fisher & Phillips LLP as legal representation, a law firm known for its work in labor relations.
The in-person votes at the election will be impounded until they can be comingled with the mail-in votes. The comingling and counting of the ballots will take place at 1 PM PT/4 PM ET on June 23 at at the Region 19 office located in Seattle.
The NLRB case file can be viewed here. The page has a link where the notice of election can be downloaded and reviewed. Read the letter from United Wizards of the Coast here or follow its social media accounts on X and Bluesky for more updates.
