Activision Blizzard making temporary QA workers full-time, with pay raise and benefits

rockpapershotgun.com:

Activision Blizzard yesterday announced that they're converting temporary QA staff in the US to full-time employees, with a pay raise and benefits to boot. Worker groups are celebrating this as a victory in their ongoing mission to force the company to improve the workplace. But one group are left out: the Raven QA staff who are currently forming a union. Actiblizz say labour law requires they do this; unions say it's an attempt to punish and divide them.

In an e-mail to staff yesterday (republished on Polygon), Activision Blizzard announced that they are converting all US-based temporary and contingent QA workers to full-time employees. This comes with full company benefits, access to the company bonus scheme, and a pay raise to a minimum of $20 per hour. This is a bump up from $17/hour, a rate only gained a few months ago. Before that, according to the ABK Workers Alliance (aka ABetterAKB), most of QA were on $13 or $15 per hour, depending on location. This is good, and overdue.

In a Twitter thread, the ABK Workers Alliance said they were "overjoyed" with the announcement, claiming that it benefits 1100 people.

"A year ago, we made a promise to make A Better ABK," they continued. "Little by little, we are accomplishing that goal. This is the power of collective action. When you work with your co-workers for the betterment of your workplace, the impossible becomes possible."

It is great news. But this being Activision Blizzard, it's no surprise there's a bummer attached. The Game Workers Alliance (GWA), a fledgling union of Raven Software QA currently forming under the Communications Workers Of America (CWA), are excluded from changes.

Activision Blizzard say this is unrelated to the unionisation attempt. "Due to our