The vote comes as Activision Blizzard works on finalizing a deal to be acquired by Microsoft for practically $69 billion.
“The outcome of this election, the voice of the people coming together to vote yes for this union, is further validation that even a small group of folks in Madison Wisconsin standing together in solidarity can face up against a AAA studio giant like Activision, and come out the other side victorious,” mentioned Becka Aigner, a Raven Software high quality assurance tester who was a part of the vote. “Now that the fight for recognition is through, we can focus our efforts on negotiations. We’ll fight for respect, fight for better wages, better benefits, better work-life balance, fight for sustainability and job security, and continue to fight for our fellow workers in solidarity.”
“We respect and believe in the right of all employees to decide whether or not to support or vote for a union,” Activision Blizzard spokeswoman Jessica Taylor mentioned in a press release to The Post. “We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven Software studio of roughly 350 people should not be made by 19 of Raven employees. We’re committed to doing what’s best for the studio and our employees.”
On Monday, The National Labor Relations Board additionally accused Activision Blizzard of illegally threatening workers and their collective motion rights with a strict social media coverage.
“These allegations are false,” Activision Blizzard spokesperson Jessica Taylor instructed The Post in a press release. “Employees may and do talk freely about these workplace issues without retaliation, and our social media policy expressly incorporates employees’ NLRA rights.”
The unionization push at Raven started after 12 high quality assurance (QA) contractors had been let go in December 2021. In late January, Raven testers filed a petition with the NLRB for a union election after mother or father firm Activision Blizzard missed a deadline set by the group to voluntarily acknowledge the nascent union, named the Game Workers Alliance. Days after the petition was filed, Raven administration moved high quality assurance testers to completely different departments throughout the studio, saying the corporate was shifting towards an “embedded tester model.”
Activision Blizzard contested the submitting, arguing that any union at Raven must embody all the studio’s roughly 230 workers, and that the embedded testing mannequin proved that QA was built-in with different groups. Labor legal professionals The Post consulted mentioned that asking for a bigger eligible voting group was a method aimed at diluting union assist. The NLRB’s resolution in late April rejected Activision’s argument, discovering that the set of high quality assurance testers was an applicable bargaining unit.
The unionization push and the response from administration attracted lawmakers’ consideration. In February, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) known as on Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to cease any union-busting efforts.
The National Labor Relations Board mailed out ballots to high quality assurance testers who had been with the corporate through the pay interval ending April 16. While the variety of Raven high quality assurance testers has held regular at round 30 workers, the composition of the workforce has modified over the course of the five-month unionization effort. Since the 12 QA testers had been let go in December, Activision employed 9 testers who are actually eligible to vote. This led to some scrambling on the potential union’s half to recruit the brand new hires, Raven employees instructed The Post.
Management at Raven had been sending workers messages and holding conferences concerning the upcoming election, in keeping with present Raven Software workers. At an April 26 city corridor, management at Raven urged unionization would possibly impede recreation improvement and have an effect on promotions and advantages. They despatched an e mail to workers the following day with a graphic hooked up that learn, “Please vote no.”
Several Raven workers instructed The Post they discovered administration’s anti-union messaging to be disappointing and ineffective, as they voted “yes.”
“I don’t think throughout any of this I’ve really had time to process how I felt,” one Raven QA tester mentioned. “I mailed my ballot, and then got right back to work. I think it will probably all hit me like a ton of bricks when this is finally over.”
“What’s even more exciting than what this means for us at Raven is the precedent this sets for the game industry,” the tester mentioned. “Quality assurance testers being underpaid and exploited is the standard and with unions we can change that. I hope that ours is the first union of many for QA workers and I’m really looking forward to seeing which studio is next.”
As elements of Activision Blizzard and the video games trade take note of the Raven vote, a former Raven employee echoed the sentiment that they hoped extra group would unfold by the North American gaming trade.
“As I’m no longer with the company, I wish the best for the team and look forward to seeing the results of the union push everyone worked so hard to get to,” mentioned a former Raven high quality assurance tester, requesting anonymity for worry of retaliation. They added that the labor motion at Raven helped them see “the greater issues in the game industry” and that they’ve been seeing comparable points at their present office.