It’s a good day for games industry workers as Activision-Blizzard has once again failed to suppress the burgeoning worker unions forming within the company: Last night the National Labor Relations Board ruled that another group of Acti-Blizz QA testers is eligible to form a union.
Readers will recall that this group is the QA team at Blizzard Albany, which was known as Vicarious Visions until its full assimilation with Activision-Blizzard last year; the Albany, New York, studio has been working on the Diablo franchise for the last few years, perhaps most notably the in-development Diablo IV.
As it did with QA workers at Raven Software, Activision-Blizzard had attempted to argue that QA should not be able to organize on its own and that any union should be company-wide, which would inevitably become a clash of classes as well-paid designers are incentivized to outvote the underpaid tech positions that are most in need of protection. The company has maintained that allowing QA to organize means giving a “handful” of employees control over the future of the whole studio, which of course is misleading as QA’s vote impacts only QA and nothing is stopping other units within the studio from organizing themselves (except the company’s now very well–documented and illegal unionbusting efforts).
The NLRB rejected Activision-Blizzard’s argument once again and granted QA workers the authority to organize themselves as a bargaining unit, specifically citing the wide disparity in pay between the groups. The vote will apparently take place in mid-November, which means Activision-Blizzard has a few weeks to use its bullhorn to send company-wide emails like this one that disparages the Raven QA union and discourages union support.
We’ll just end this on a comment from a Blizzard Albany worker who is not a QA tester, as quoted in WAPO: “It’s about time. […] Our QA testers are some of the most talented and skilled people working in our company and they are critically undervalued by corporate. I think that all games workers need a union, but QA is in especially dire need.”
• Workers at Blizzard-owned Proletariat say management refused its union and is ‘forcing’ them to go through NLRB voting
• QA workers at Diablo IV studio unanimously vote to form a union
• National Labor Relations Board denies Activision-Blizzard’s attempt to freeze Albany QA workers’ union vote
• Blizzard once again tries to delay Albany QA workers’ union vote through a request for review
• Raven workers accuse Activision-Blizzard of ‘continued intransigence’ during union negotiations
• Activision-Blizzard continues obstructing QA worker unionization with latest appeal
• Activision-Blizzard’s petition to dismiss discrimination suit was thrown out, company faces fresh unfair labor practice charges
• Blizzard Albany’s Diablo QA wins right to unionize as NLRB rejects Activision-Blizzard challenge
• Labor board determines Activision-Blizzard retaliated against unionizers, Microsoft launches acquisition website
• Blizzard is union-busting again, this time targeting the Diablo IV team
• Microsoft and CWA union enter into ‘labor neutrality’ agreement that will ultimately apply to Activision-Blizzard
• Its legal options exhausted, Activision-Blizzard finally agrees to negotiate with union after half a year of clowning
• Microsoft promises ‘creative and collaborative approaches with unions’ in official blog post
• Raven Software QA votes to form union in spite of months of Activision-Blizzard unionbusting
• Activision-Blizzard creeps out the internet with its ‘Diversity Space Tool’ as union-busting continues
• CWA says Activision-Blizzard management threatened workers for discussing labor rights
• Activision-Blizzard Q1 2022: Revenues plummet, Blizzard loses another 2M players
• Activision-Blizzard’s Raven Software gets green light to vote for a union by National Labor Relations Board
• Activision-Blizzard promotes over a thousand QA testers and bumps their pay – but not the ones unionizing
• Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick urged by U.S. Senator to get out of the way of unionization efforts
• ABK reportedly tries to stall Raven Software’s union vote as DFEH and SEC issue new subpoenas
• Raven Software files for union election after ActiBlizz ignores recognition request
• Activision’s Raven Software workers end strike pending official recognition of its union
• Activision-Blizzard’s Raven Software is formally unionizing
• Activision-Blizzard addresses Call of Duty mess, striking devs report ‘radio silence’
• Raven Software strike extends to its third week as Activision-Blizzard claims management is listening
• Activision-Blizzard fields new accusations as workers strike, fundraise, and issue union cards
• Activision-Blizzard is walking out again, Australia’s game industry unionizes
• Activision-Blizzard is suddenly laying off more QA, won’t be at The Game Awards
