Raven QA unionising the hard way after Activision Blizzard decline to recognise them

rockpapershotgun.com:

Activision Blizzard have declined to voluntarily recognise the union forming at Raven Software's QA department, forcing workers to take the long approach. The group calling themselves the Game Workers Alliance will now have to hit up the National Labor Relations Board and run elections, but say they're still confident about unionising because, y'know, they have the support of a supermajority. "Once again, when management is given a choice, they always seem to take the low road," the group said.

Raven QA started organising following layoffs in December, plus the whole companywide sexual harrassment and discrimination mega-scandal. Several dozen workers went on strike for seven weeks, only winding down after a group of QA announced plans to form the Game Workers Alliance. They're forming under the Communication Workers Of America (CWA).

If Activision Blizzard had voluntarily recognised the union, that'd be it, union away! Seemed unlikely they would, given their history of discouraging unionisation. Seeing as they've chosen not to, the Game Workers Alliance instead need to go the longer route through the National Labor Relations Board. They'll need a majority to say "hey, NLRB, let's unionise" then hold elections. If that goes well then hooray, the union will be certified.

The Game Workers Alliance responded in a Twitter thread last night:

"We, the supermajority of workers at Raven QA, are proud to be confidently filing our petition with the NLRB for our union election.

"We are deeply disappointed that Raven Software and Activision Blizzard refused to uplift workers rights by choosing to not voluntarily recognize our union in spite of our supermajority support. This was an opportunity for Activision Blizzard to show a real