Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software has moved forward with its next step in officially forming its Game Workers Alliance union. Readers will recall that ActiBlizz was given until this past Tuesday to recognize the GWA; that timer has since run out, and now the GWA will file a union election request with the National Labor Relations Board to make itself official.
In order for this union to formalize with the NLRB, Raven Software workers must have a supermajority of devs in the department voting in favor of the union’s creation – something that the GWA claims it has. “This was an opportunity for Activision Blizzard to show a real commitment setting new and improved standards for workers,” reads part of the GWA’s announcement. “Instead, Activision Blizzard has chosen to make a rushed restructuring announcement to try and hinder our right to organize.”
The GWA is not only looking to bring ActiBlizz to the bargaining table to improve worker conditions. It is also calling for oversight into the impending sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft.
Update: A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard provided the following statement in response to news of the NLRB petition: pic.twitter.com/AEYLNCoUQu
— GameDeveloper.com (@gamedevdotcom) January 26, 2022
We, the supermajority of workers at Raven QA, are proud to be confidently filing our petition with the NLRB for our union election. (1/5)
— Game Workers Alliance 💙#WeAreGWA (@WeAreGWA) January 26, 2022
Here is the text from the email sent to all of Raven. They are attempting to break up the unit by asking for a studio-wide vote instead. It’s clear QA as a department is not respected and they are banking on class separation to bust the unit. See you in court! pic.twitter.com/uwDIPZT1KM
— Jessica Gonzalez💙 #WeAreGWA (@_TechJess) January 26, 2022
