Raven Software QA workers win union vote

polygon.com:

Workers at Raven Software responsible for quality assurance on Call of Duty: Warzone voted Monday in favor of forming a union, the first of its kind at publisher Activision Blizzard. The nearly 30-person group mailed ballots to the National Labor Relations Board in April leading to an official count on Monday. Nineteen workers voted “yes” on the vote, with three votes against the union.

The group, called Game Workers Alliance, will move into contract negotiations with Activision Blizzard (which Microsoft plans to acquire as part of a $68.7 billion deal), supported by the Communications Workers of America’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA).

Activision Blizzard has not responded to Polygon’s request for comment.

Raven Software QA workers began their union drive in January following a weekslong strike. Activision Blizzard announced a reorganization of QA workers in January, moving QA testers into “embedded” positions within other departments, a move that CWA organizing director Tom Smith called “nothing more than a tactic to thwart Raven QA workers who are exercising their right to organize.” Activision Blizzard denied that characterization, saying it was a “carefully considered” change that “brings Raven into alignment with the best practices of other prominent Activision studios.”

Since then, Activision Blizzard announced it planned to convert another 1,000 QA workers to full-time positions, increase their pay to $20 per hour, and allow QA workers access to bonuses and benefits. Raven Software QA workers were not offered the same pay raises at that time; Activision Blizzard claimed that was because of “legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.”

In February, Activision Blizzard contested