National Labor Relations Board denies Activision-Blizzard’s attempt to freeze Albany QA workers’ union vote

    
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While this might have seemed like a Sisyphean effort on the part of Activision-Blizzard, it’s still always good to know when flagrant unionbusting efforts by the company get punched down. QA workers at Blizzard Albany, the studio previously known as Vicarious Visions and the one currently working on Diablo IV, have proudly proclaimed on the Twitter account of their fledgling union that ABK’s request to review the studio’s union voting process has been denied by the National Labor Relations Board.

Readers will recall that this review request to the NLRB was the latest attempt by Activision to block the Albany office’s QA workers from voting to form a union. Activision’s argument was that all of the studio’s employees should be included in the vote to unionize in order to stop QA workers from having “voting power to determine the fate of more than 100 workers” – a claim that we once more point out is a flagrant mischaracterization of the process as the QA union would only bargain on behalf of QA workers. It’s also a claim that got tossed out by the NLRB in October.

“Activision management’s bitter attempt to silence our union has failed,” the announcement declares. “We are still waiting for our new election date, but we look forward to the impending ballot count without interruption.”

source: Twitter
Activision-Blizzard is considered a controversial gaming company owing to a long string of scandals over the last few years, including the Blitzchung boycott, mass layoffs, labor disputes, and executive pay fiasco. In 2021, the company was sued by California for fostering a work environment rife with sexual harassment and discrimination, the disastrous corporate response to which compounded Blizzard’s ongoing pipeline issues and the widespread perception that its online games are in decline. Multiple state and federal agencies are investigating the company as employees unionize and call for Bobby Kotick’s resignation. As of 2022, the company is being acquired by no less than Microsoft.
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