Activision Blizzard’s new full-time jobs come with a bit of union busting
Hours after announcing it would convert over 1,000 temporary and contract QA employees to full time and provide a minimum pay of $20 per hour, Activision Blizzard is stating that Raven Software QA workers will not be part of that deal. According to a report from Bloomberg, the QA testers at Raven Software who recently organized as the Game Workers Alliance will not be able to take advantage of the new pay minimum — something Activision Blizzard failed to mention upfront when it sent the initial news to media outlets. Excluding organizing employees from company-wide benefits seems to be Activision Blizzard’s latest move against the burgeoning labor movement going on at the company.
In a statement to The Verge, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Jessica Taylor confirmed Bloomberg’s findings, saying:
“All QA at Raven are full-time and already have access to full company benefits and eligibility to participate in the company’s bonus program. Due to our legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act, we cannot institute new pay initiatives at Raven at this time, because they would be new kinds of compensation change.”
In addition to that statement, Activision Blizzard also provided The Verge with a copy of the email that Brian Raffel, Raven Software studio head, sent out to employees.
Team, Today, it was announced that all US-based TEA and contingent QA workers will be converted to FTE. This news builds upon our conversions across AP studios that began in December of 2021. Through direct dialogue with each other, we improved pay, expanded benefits, and provided professional opportunities to attract and retain the world’s best talent. As part of today’s news, those Activision QA teams will receive an increase in
Read more on theverge.com
