BioWare Edmonton's Keywords contractors begin unionisation process

pcgamesinsider.biz:

Contract workers at BioWare's Edmonton office have begun the process of unionising.

That's according to a post on Reddit, which features a notice from Alberta's Labour Relations Board – verified by Game Developer – saying that it is checking whether the application meets the requirements for collective bargaining to begin at the firm.

The staff in question are actually employed by service and software giant Keywords in development support roles. That likely means quality assurance. 

If the application meets the requirements to form a union, then the body will send out ballots to staff to see if they wish to have a union representing them.

"If the Board finds the application meets the Code's requirements, including the union has at least 40 per cent support from employees in the proposed bargaining unit, it may conduct a secret ballot representation vote," the Alberta Labour Relations Board said.

"The ballot will ask employees if they want the trade union to represent them in collective bargaining with the employer."

This comes in the wake of Activision Blizzard's Raven Software successfully creating the Game Workers Alliance union following the layoff of a number of quality assurance staff last year.