Raven Software program QA employees, who’ve been on strike since early December, are unionizing. Supported by the Communications Employees of America and the ABK Employees Alliance, the workers have introduced plans to launch the Game Workers Alliance, “a motion shaped and maintained by recreation business staff throughout a number of disciplines, primarily stemming from the labor rights strike by Raven Software program QA staff.”
“We, of Raven High quality Assurance, are reaching out right this moment to announce the formation of our Union, the Sport Employees Alliance, and request official voluntary recognition to affix CODE-CWA/Communications Employees of America,” the union stated in a message to Activision Blizzard administration, posted at gameworkersalliance.com. “With management’s fixed reiteration of funding in the very best pursuits of the employee-base, we provide the chance to exhibit this now by willingly acknowledging the Union composed of those self same employees.
“With a Tremendous-Majority of Raven High quality Assurance invested in our organizing efforts, we’ve discovered it to be in our personal finest pursuits to push ahead with unionization. It has change into evident that fairness won’t ever be achieved with out collective bargaining energy. The corporate selected to launch twelve integral staff whereas pointedly discarding essential advisement from Raven’s departmental management.”
We’re proud to affix CWA! https://t.co/ZoJH2qBHNq pic.twitter.com/hKGFhyhLusJanuary 21, 2022
The CWA issued an identical name for administration recognition of the union.
“We ask that Activision Blizzard administration respect Raven QA employees by voluntarily recognizing CWA’s illustration with out hesitation,” Communications Employees of America secretary-treasurer Sara Steffens stated in a press release despatched to Polygon. “A collective bargaining settlement will give Raven QA staff a voice at work, bettering the video games they produce and making the corporate stronger. Voluntary recognition is the rational approach ahead.”
We’re proud to assist and welcome @WeAreGWA— a union with @CWAUnion to demand change at @RavenSoftware & the sport growth business as an entire.That is only the start. #Solidarity #WeAreGWA #GWAUnion https://t.co/L82XKL3fGuJanuary 21, 2022
The Sport Employees Alliance will not be the primary videogame union in North America: That distinction belongs to employees at indie studio Vodeo, who unionized in December 2021. However it will likely be the primary at an organization the dimensions of Activision Blizzard.
Because the Washington Post stories, it is not essential for Activision Blizzard to acknowledge the union by itself: A supermajority of staff voted in favor of forming the union, which implies it may be formalized via the US Nationwide Labor Relations Board even with out administration recognition. Activision Blizzard management has beforehand discouraged unionization, but in addition stated that it helps staff’ proper to unionize below the Nationwide Labor Relations Act (which, effectively, it has to). The corporate’s looming acquisition by Microsoft might open the door to a conciliatory strategy, though an Activision Blizzard assertion despatched to PC Gamer in right this moment downplayed the importance of the union and reiterated the corporate’s choice.
“Activision Blizzard is fastidiously reviewing the request for voluntary recognition from the CWA, which seeks to prepare round three dozen of the corporate’s almost 10,000 staff,” an organization consultant stated. “Whereas we consider {that a} direct relationship between the corporate and its crew members delivers the strongest workforce alternatives, we deeply respect the rights of all staff below the regulation to make their very own selections about whether or not or to not be a part of a union.
“Throughout Activision Blizzard, we stay centered on listening carefully to our staff and offering the improved pay, advantages {and professional} alternatives wanted to draw and retain the world’s finest expertise. Over the previous couple of years, this has included elevating minimal compensation for Raven QA staff by 41%, extending paid day without work, increasing entry to medical advantages for workers and vital others, and transitioning greater than 60% of short-term Raven QA workers into full-time staff.”
We’re so extremely excited for our allies at @WeAreGWA. It has taken months of meticulous planning and cautious work to get the place we’re right this moment, however we could not have achieved it with out one another. Thanks to everybody who has publicly supported us and keep tuned. We’re not achieved butJanuary 21, 2022
The Raven strike started on December 6, when members of the studio’s high quality assurance crew walked off the job to protest Actvision Blizzard’s determination to not renew the contracts of 12 QA employees. A couple of days later, the workers introduced formal strike motion, and have been off the job since, however Activision Blizzard has up to now shown no sign of budging on the workers’ calls for. The ABK Employees Alliance stated earlier this month that the hanging employees hadn’t acquired any form of formal acknowledgement from higher administration.
The Sport Employees Alliance gave Activision Blizzard till January 25 to answer its request for recognition, and stated that it’s going to file for election with the NLRB if it fails to take action.
