28 QA testers at Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software have voted to consolidate their workplaces, overcoming union busting action by Activision Blizzard.
The Milwaukee office of the National Labor Relations Board tallied the ballots submitted Monday by Raven QA testers, reaching the final votes of 19 in favor of the union and three against. The resulting association, the Game Workers Alliance, is today the first legally recognized association in major video game publishing in the United States.
It’s now official: Activision Raven Software testers have voted for the first major merger in the American video game industry. Supporters against 19 and against 3
—Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) May 23, 2022
Raven Software’s QA testers announced plans to merge in January as part of the Game Workers’ Alliance strike to protest the release of 12 team members. Activision Blizzard allowed voluntary recognition of union leave and prompted a group of QA employees to petition the National Labor Relations Board to hold union elections.
Activision Blizzard attempted to prove that the entire studio needed to get votes to form a union, but the NLRB denied this claim. The company has stepped up its other efforts to disband the union, sending emails to employees warning that unions could “harm our ability to keep making great games.” Another email included the attachment “Please vote no”.
Raven also revamped the studio, dissolving QA into a separate team and incorporating individual members into other areas of the studio – animation, art, etc. But Raven’s organizers were firmly taken.
Becca Eigner, QA tester for Raven Software, told the Washington Post, “The outcome of this election, the voice of the people who will join this union, is further proof that even a small group of people in Madison, Wisconsin , come together in solidarity. It can challenge AAA studio giants like Activision and the other side wins.
“Now that the battle for recognition is over, we can focus our efforts on negotiations. We will fight for respect, we will fight for better wages, better benefits, better work-life balance, we will fight for job stability and security, and we will continue to fight for our Solidarity.
Activision Blizzard was less enthusiastic about the outcome of the vote.
“We believe that a major decision that would affect the entire Raven Software studio, which employs approximately 350 people, should not be made by 19 Raven employees,” he told the Post. “We are ready to do our best for the studio and our staff.
Source : dbl tap
