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05-23-2022, 02:41 PM
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The team becomes the first union at a major U.S. studioRaven Software quality assurance workers have now officially voted to unionize. The final vote came down 19 for, 3 against.
The vote was held today, over a webcast stream. The group, Game Workers Alliance (https://twitter.com/WeAreGWA), marks the first union at a major games studio in North America and one of only a few around, including Vodeo Games staff (https://www.destructoid.com/vodeo-games-form-first-game-studio-union-rights-industry/).
https://twitter.com/WeAreGWA/status/1528825165798223872
It's a big move, especially as The Washington Post reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/05/09/activision-union-vote-begins/) that Activision Blizzard management had been discouraging employees from voting in favor of the union. A Bloomberg report (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-23/activision-illegally-threatened-staff-us-labor-officials-find) from earlier today says that the National Labor Relations Board is preparing an official complaint unless Activision settles. An Activision spokesperson denied the allegations in a statement to Bloomberg.
A long roadIt's been a long road for Raven employees, starting with sudden layoffs at the end of last year. Workers at Raven's QA department, which works on titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, held a walkout and eventually went on strike (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-strike-fund-work-stoppage-union-authorization-news/) calling for worker representation.
The strike ended when the QA testers formed a union (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-strike-ends-news/), Game Workers Alliance, under the Communication Workers of America. The union called on Activision Blizzard for official recognition (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-workers-union-activision-blizzard-microsoft/).
Activision Blizzard did recently confirm it would be moving many of its U.S. QA workers to full-time positions (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-qa-full-time-positions-news/). But the company also said it would not voluntarily recognize (https://www.ign.com/articles/raven-software-qa-workers-strike-union) Raven Software's QA union, leading to today's vote.
The publisher has been the subject of acute scrutiny for some time now. A lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing kickstarted a series of lawsuits and reports (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-lawsuit-timeline-industry-ceo-bobby-kotick-report/).
Microsoft announced earlier this year that it plans to purchase Activision Blizzard (https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-activision-blizzard-purchase-acquisition-call-of-duty-warcraft/) for $68.7 billion. Microsoft told The Washington Post earlier this year (https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/24/microsoft-activision-union-statement/) that it would "not stand in the way" of an Activision Blizzard union.
The post Raven Software QA employees vote to unionize (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-employees-vote-to-unionize/) appeared first on Destructoid (https://www.destructoid.com).
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The team becomes the first union at a major U.S. studioRaven Software quality assurance workers have now officially voted to unionize. The final vote came down 19 for, 3 against.
The vote was held today, over a webcast stream. The group, Game Workers Alliance (https://twitter.com/WeAreGWA), marks the first union at a major games studio in North America and one of only a few around, including Vodeo Games staff (https://www.destructoid.com/vodeo-games-form-first-game-studio-union-rights-industry/).
https://twitter.com/WeAreGWA/status/1528825165798223872
It's a big move, especially as The Washington Post reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/05/09/activision-union-vote-begins/) that Activision Blizzard management had been discouraging employees from voting in favor of the union. A Bloomberg report (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-23/activision-illegally-threatened-staff-us-labor-officials-find) from earlier today says that the National Labor Relations Board is preparing an official complaint unless Activision settles. An Activision spokesperson denied the allegations in a statement to Bloomberg.
A long roadIt's been a long road for Raven employees, starting with sudden layoffs at the end of last year. Workers at Raven's QA department, which works on titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, held a walkout and eventually went on strike (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-strike-fund-work-stoppage-union-authorization-news/) calling for worker representation.
The strike ended when the QA testers formed a union (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-strike-ends-news/), Game Workers Alliance, under the Communication Workers of America. The union called on Activision Blizzard for official recognition (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-workers-union-activision-blizzard-microsoft/).
Activision Blizzard did recently confirm it would be moving many of its U.S. QA workers to full-time positions (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-qa-full-time-positions-news/). But the company also said it would not voluntarily recognize (https://www.ign.com/articles/raven-software-qa-workers-strike-union) Raven Software's QA union, leading to today's vote.
The publisher has been the subject of acute scrutiny for some time now. A lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing kickstarted a series of lawsuits and reports (https://www.destructoid.com/activision-blizzard-lawsuit-timeline-industry-ceo-bobby-kotick-report/).
Microsoft announced earlier this year that it plans to purchase Activision Blizzard (https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-activision-blizzard-purchase-acquisition-call-of-duty-warcraft/) for $68.7 billion. Microsoft told The Washington Post earlier this year (https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/24/microsoft-activision-union-statement/) that it would "not stand in the way" of an Activision Blizzard union.
The post Raven Software QA employees vote to unionize (https://www.destructoid.com/raven-software-qa-employees-vote-to-unionize/) appeared first on Destructoid (https://www.destructoid.com).
More...