Remote Protections

UWOTC-CWA is seeking job protections to enable workers to continue having the choice to work remotely. Hasbro leadership has been mandating all employees begin to work from the office. This is commonly referred to as a “return to office (RTO)” though Hasbro has shied away from that specific terminology. Meanwhile, many of us MTGA workers were hired fully remote and have never worked out of the office. 

Arena has been operating fully remote since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. When WOTC began the transition back to an office space, the company moved to an office built to service the needs of a company that continued to function with hybrid work as the norm, and was designed for collaboration with teams that remained almost fully remote. Most of us were not assigned permanent desks, and there was no requirement for us to use this space. We were told that remote workers would not be asked to work from the office - we were told there wouldn’t even be enough room for all employees to come in, even if they wanted to!

Over the past several years, WOTC has hired fully-remote and out-of-state employees who were told that they would not need to relocate. People have purchased homes, moved out of state, started families – all with the understanding and expectation that remote work was here to stay. The entire Arena team demonstrated across the past several years our ability to operate and excel while working fully remote. Over this period, the number of Magic sets and the number of cards released each year has continued to soar. For many employees, the only reason we can keep up with the increased number of sets is because we can work from home, which many of us find to be more productive and efficient.

Then one day in 2025, an update to RTO was sent out for all of Hasbro; eventually every single employee would be expected to work in person three times a week, regardless of location or circumstance. The announcement sent a wave of anxiety and uncertainty throughout our coworkers, many worried about losing their jobs. We reached out to leadership to understand how this would impact Arena and were left with vague non-committal responses. When leadership finally acknowledged Arena would be affected by RTO, we were left frustrated that our input was ignored for nearly half a year. Our pleas for flexibility in the end were met with only apathetic words: move, or look for another job. If we weren't able to come into the office, it could be considered leaving our job voluntarily - we wouldn't even get severance. 

WOTC continues to celebrate record profits all while claiming that employees must uproot their lives, endure costly relocations with no assistance, endure a much higher cost of living with no compensation adjustments, and take on the burden of commutes purely to satisfy the whims of executives who aren't involved in the day to day operations of our teams.

Since our union was announced, WOTC has backtracked and changed their stance entirely; leadership told us that past directives for making people from out of state move back for RTO were “misunderstood” or “not intended”, despite out-of-state employees having received multiple directives, in writing, that they would be required to come back into the office. The company has sent a number of policy emails, walking back some demands for out of state employees, but with a continuation of RTO guidelines that uproot and disrupt the lives of others who live within WA state. This includes requiring anyone within 50 miles to commute to the office by the end of next year; this is a number that is out of touch with reality. The terrain and traffic around Seattle is very disruptive and the office lacks any reasonable public transit options for anyone outside a very limited radius. This leaves many with costly multi-hour commutes that severely impact their home lives.

Despite the new directive, there is still uncertainty and confusion around who exactly this will affect - some in-state employees within that radius are being told that management isn’t sure if they’ll need to come in. There is no clarity or certainty, and workers are left in a limbo of confusion and anxiety on what their lives will look like a year from now.

These moves are a clear sign that collective action helps put power back in the hands of the workers. It also demonstrates that without a union contract, the company is free to change their minds on a whim. The only way to guarantee protections is to get them in a written union contract.

The Arena team has clearly demonstrated our ability to operate as a fully remote team and continues to deliver profits and milestones that the company praises. UWOTC-CWA is seeking to enable our members to continue operating in a manner we have proven works year after year. We look forward to winning our union election, and codifying clear protections in a contract that allows for each person to work in the way that’s best for them, be it from the office, or remotely.